Staffordshire Police are piloting networked, body-worn cameras as the latest weapon in the fight against crime ­ and the battle against bureaucracy.

Personal video cameras are one of a number of mobile technologies that could improve efficiency, according to Sir Ronnie Flanagan’s policing review published last week.

Not only do cameras provide improved evidence, they can also reduce the time taken to file incident reports by 22 per cent, which would give officers an extra 50 minutes of patrol time per officer per day, according to the report.

The Staffordshire trial has produced clear results, said project sponsor
Inspector David Edge.

“Before, a handwritten account could easily run to 10 pages. But reporting is now simply a case of saying: On this date I went to the location and recorded the scene, and I now produce my exhibit’.” he said.

Staffordshire’s trial has been running since November using Reveal Media software.