By Sumeyya Ilanbey
Police in Bacchus Marsh and Ballan will soon be wearing body cameras in a bid to improve police safety and accountability.
Following a “successful” six-week pilot in Ballarat and Epping – during which four early guilty pleas were secured, helping expedite the court process – the cameras will be rolled out to 59 stations across the state, including Bacchus Marsh and Ballan.
General duties and highway patrol officers of the rank of sergeant and below will wear the small, battery-operated cameras to capture interactions between police and the public.
Moorabool’s local area commander Brendon McCrory said the feedback from Ballarat officers had been overwhelmingly positive.
“Domestic violence is one of the main thrusts for the body-worn cameras,” Inspector McCrory said. “It gives us an opportunity to produce evidence in its rawest form.
“We don’t then have a sanitised version of people in suits and ties 12 months later at the court. It gives the opportunity for the prosecution and defendant to see the situation in the rawest form, with people’s emotions, injuries and damages that police are confronted with.”
During the six-week pilot, when members of the public threatened to complain about their interactions with the officers, it was found that those threats were less likely to be pursued when they were informed their interaction had been recorded.
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said officers will turn on the cameras when they are exercising police powers and collecting evidence. Police would not be required to tell members of the public when they were recording, but the camera would usually show a flashing red light when it was recording.
The spokeswoman said footage deemed “non-evidentiary” would be deleted after three months.
