Police in Young will receive a boost in their ability to gather evidence with new body cameras rolling out across the Hume District.
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The Body Worn Video camera technology was successfully trialed in 2013 and 2014 before being supplied to frontline officers at Sydney’s eastern beaches in September 2015.
The camera is now being rolled out to more than 500 sites across the state.
Sergeant Paul Colefax of Young Police highlighted that the camera is a tool for gathering evidence rather than surveillance.
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“It will be worn overtly on an officer’s uniform and can be activated for use in operational policing to record incidents or events in real-time where the visual and audio evidence will support an investigation,” Sergeant Colefax said.
The Hume Police District Commander, Superintendent Chris Schilt, said the cameras will be a positive support and will complement other strategies to tackle crime.
“Body Worn Video will play an important part in our ongoing commitment to officer and community safety in the Hilltops region,” Supt Schilt said.
“With millions of interactions between the police and community members ever year, the cameras will be an excellent tool to assist investigations by directly recording criminal behavior and providing officers with a contemporaneous, unequivocal account of an incident.”
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The M-View Matrix camera records high-definition wide-view vision and high-quality audio, with a capability to take still photographs, record audio only and record in low-light situations.
The footage is encrypted and safely stored on the personal camera, and once downloaded onto the secure police database; all footage on the camera is erased.
“I want to reassure the community our officers have received training on the appropriate use of BWV and members of the public will be informed if the camera is in use,” Supt Schilt said.
Police in Young will receive body cameras on October 18 before Boorowa police on October 22. Grenfell and Greenethorpe are live.