Fighting Crime From Above?

According to vicnews.com the Victoria PD will be the first North American PD to begin using body mounted surveillance equipment.

In the United Kingdom, police have tested out the equipment for two years.

Since implementing the new cameras, complaints decreased 14 per cent and guilty pleas rose 22 per cent, said Sgt. Grant Hamilton, spokesperson for Victoria police.

The digital recordings also saves officers time in preparing court documents, he added.

All of the equipment is on loan from the manufacturer until the pilot project ends Aug. 31.

 

The highlighter-sized camera attaches to a bike helmet or to glasses. It is attached to a wallet-sized recorder that fits in a breast pocket.

 

It is at the officers discretion to turn the camera on and off, but video footage cannot be deleted on site.

 

During the eight-week trial period, Victoria police will also test three video surveillance cameras in their cars.

Guilty pleas rose 22%. That's a pretty good number and is hard to refute the hard data here. However, what's also interesting is the fact Victoria PD claims complaints to police decreased 14% when the equipment was tested.  Are they claiming these cameras reduced complaint calls by 14%?

I believe these cameras to have the potential to secure convictions and have more guilty pleas. This equipment can also have a cascading effect to the court system. When a citizen pleads guilty, less legal resources can be utilized and that speeds up the process.

Update 7/12: Below is a video clip of the Victoria police describing the system in detail.