Thousands of traffic officers will start wearing video cameras attached to their uniform this summer in a bid to increase police transparency.

About 900 traffic officers in Catford, Merton, Alperton, and Chadwell Heath, will be issued with the Body Worn Video (BWV) cameras already worn by officers in 22 boroughs across the capital.

They will be joined in the scheme over the summer by another 950 Safer Transport Team (STT) officers from Scotland Yard’s Roads and Transport Policing Command in the largest roll-out of the cameras within the Met to date.

The BWV offer greater transparency, the Met argue, and are used to gather evidence. The cameras have been particularly successful in prompting early guilty pleas in domestic abuse cases from offenders who know their actions have been recorded, a spokesperson added.

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PC Dave Newbold is based in Merton

Superintendent Thomas Naughton, from the Roads and Transport Policing Command, said: “Our traffic officers are often involved in pursuits and dealing with serious criminality and the BWV will support the evidence chain when apprehending offenders.

“The BWV will also, in the longer term, reduce the abstraction rate of offenders attending court and most importantly support officer safety. Trials show the footage helps us present clearer evidence and secure convictions at court.

“I belive this equipment is a positive step in enhancing public confidence in the Roads and Transport Policing Command and the wider Met.”

Over the coming months, the camera will also be issued to the remaining taskforces (Marine Policing Unit, Dog Support Unit, Mounted Branch and Automated Number Plate Recognition Units) as well to officers in a further ten boroughs and those on front-line specialist roles, including overt firearms officers.

All recorded footage from the BWV is automatically uploaded to secure servers once the device has been docked, and flagged for use as evidence in court or other proceedings. Footage not retained as evidence or for a policing purpose is automatically deleted within 31 days.

The cameras are not permanently recording. When recording begins, the public should be told that they are being filmed, and the camera will start flashing and beeping.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, the public can request footage recorded by the cameras.

Since September 2016, officers have recorded more than 371,650 videos, of which 199,822 have been automatically deleted.