Government to fund 'hat-cams'

Published on 18 Jul 2007

The Government will release £3 million to fund 'hat-cams' for police forces across the country. The CCTV cameras, attached to police headware, have already been used by forces in Plymouth, Nottingham and Norwich.

Body worn devices have been shown to speed the rate of successful prosecutions by providing video evidence of the suspect at the scene of the crime. The strength of such evidence results in fewer 'not guilty' pleas and less time in court.

Tony McNulty, Minister of State for Police, Crime, Security and Counter-Terrorism said:

"The use of body worn cameras has the potential to improve significantly the quality of evidence provided by police officers in the drive to reduce crime, the fear of crime and increase the proportion of offenders brought to justice.
"I am delighted to be able to announce £3million for the police service which will enable forces to make this valuable technology available to frontline police officers in England and Wales."