Met police to share more bodycam footage online

The Metropolitan Police has updated its policy to publish more body-worn camera footage online, citing a need to improve transparency and rebuild public trust. The force stated that sharing footage will provide a fuller context of officers’ actions, countering selectively edited clips that often circulate online. This shift follows criticism over incidents such as the April arrest of a suspect in the Golders Green knife attacks, where footage was released after public scrutiny. The Met highlighted recent examples of footage shared on social media, including officers saving residents from a burning building, apprehending shoplifters, and intervening in public order events. Local policing commander Neerav Patel emphasized that the public rarely sees the full scope of officers’ daily work, from removing weapons to managing protests. He added that transparency would also protect officers from misrepresentation in edited or partial footage. Civil liberties groups, including Liberty, have raised concerns about potential misuse of body-worn cameras, such as officers turning them off during incidents or failing to disclose footage. A BBC investigation in 2023 found over 150 reports of camera misuse across England and Wales, including a case involving siblings who fought for two years to obtain footage of officers’ actions during a Black Lives Matter rally. The Met began piloting body-worn cameras in 2014 and expanded their use to thousands of officers by 2016. The policy change comes amid broader debates over police surveillance, including the use of facial recognition technology linked to bodycam footage. The government’s biometrics commissioner warned in 2023 that live facial recognition on bodycams could enable mass surveillance, raising ethical concerns. Patel stressed that while the Met will continue to address mistakes transparently, the primary goal is to showcase officers’ efforts in keeping communities safe. The force plans to increase footage releases on social media, though critics argue stricter oversight is needed to prevent abuse of the technology.