Frontline police to be given body cameras

Jo Farrell said in a report that since assuming the role last October one of her priorities has been to equip more officers with cameras.

She said: “We continue to work through considerations around the cross-system, digital evidence sharing capability (DESC) – a crucial capability to share evidence captured, for example, by officers through body-worn video, to help prosecutors and courts make quicker decisions about proceedings and secure swifter resolutions.

“One of my first commitments to my fellow officers and staff when I joined Police Scotland was that we had to push on with the rollout of body-worn video.

“We are moving at pace and I expect rollout of body-worn video to frontline officers and staff to begin in the late summer.”

At a previous meeting of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), the possibility of giving officers tasers was also discussed. Ms Farrell said assaults on officers had fallen but that even a single assault is one too many.

SPA chairman Martyn Evans said that such requests were scrutinised “very carefully” but that the board would not block them if they were deemed a proportional response to policing needs.