Civil Enforcement Officers to be equipped with bodycams on a permanent basis
Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) in St Albans District are to be equipped with body-worn cameras on a permanent basis after a successful trial.
The cameras were issued to CEOs – formerly known as traffic wardens – by St Albans City and District Council which is responsible for car parking enforcement in late 2022.
During the pilot scheme, there was a significant reduction in acts of violence, aggression and verbal abuse towards CEOs.
A report revealed that during the first eight months of the trial, CEOs activated the cameras 334 times because of a concern and an incident then developed on only 23 occasions.
Two of these incidents have been referred to police for further investigation with camera video and audio footage available as evidence in one instance.
Overall, this was a decrease of 36% from the number of recorded incidents (36) that took place in the eight months prior to the pilot scheme starting.
In addition, there were only two complaints made against CEOs during the first eight months of the trial, compared to nine during the previous eight months, a 78% decrease.
The report on the pilot scheme was given to a meeting of the Council’s Public Realm Committee on Tuesday 10 September.
Councillors approved the recommendation that CEOs should now be equipped with body-worn cameras – also known as bodycams - permanently.
Robin Ray, the Council’s Assistant Director (Regulatory and Compliance), said after the meeting:
The data shows that bodycams have been a success.
The aim is to deter people from physically or verbally abusing the CEOs as people will be aware that their actions are being recorded and they could end up being prosecuted.
The cameras are highly visible and flash red when activated, so people know when they are being recorded.
It is clear there has been a marked decline in the number of alarming incidents our CEOs have been faced with. Moreover, far fewer people are lodging complaints.
Our CEOs have a difficult and stressful job and it is good to see that the cameras have helped them with the challenges that they face.
Bodycams have been widely used for more than a decade. Police, other local authorities, the security industry and businesses use them to protect against antisocial or criminal behaviour.
Measures to ensure people’s privacy and uphold data protection rules are fitted onto the devices.
The cameras delete recordings every two minutes unless instructed to keep the footage by the CEO.
Mr Ray added:
We follow the Government’s surveillance code of conduct so people can be assured that the cameras are used fairly and responsibly.
- The Committee also agreed to an 18-month trial of an Automatic Number Plate Recognition vehicle to see if it improves parking enforcement. As it is driven around streets, it can detect cars and other vehicles parked in breach of restrictions, alerting a CEO to any infringement.
Media contact: John McJannet, Principal Communications Officer: 01727 819533,
john.mcjannet@stalbans.gov.uk.