Qld police
Police officers in Queensland have been issued with body worn cameras, which will be used to capture evidence between offenders and police officers.
Police Minister Jo-Ann Miller and Commissioner Ian Stewart announced the rollout at a press conference on Wednesday, revealing that the cameras will be issued to frontline officers on the Gold Coast.
The cameras work by receiving footage from the point-of-view of the officer, but they must be manually switched to recording mode in order to capture footage.
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Commissioner Stewart said the cameras would provide greater reassurance to Queenslanders in their day-to-day dealings with officers.
“This technology greatly assists our officers in gathering evidence and dealing with complaints,” he said.
“The use of evidence captured on body worn cameras can lead to a reduction in the number of cases proceeding to court. For those that do, the clear and quality evidence captured by these cameras can help establish the identity of offenders.”
Body cameras have been worn in Victoria for some time and were issued to officers in NSW in September. Perth police will be fitted with body cameras in a six-month trial from February 2016 and trials have already taken place in the Northern Territory.