The Metropolitan Police says it is changing its policy on releasing more body-worn video from officers “where it can improve transparency and trust in policing”.
The force said the move would “back our own officers and help people understand the very challenging role they perform”.
Until now, body-worn video has only typically been published after the conclusion of any criminal proceedings, meaning the public was only seeing a “partial picture” from footage shared online by others.
Civil liberties groups have long-standing concerns police can misuse body-worn cameras by switching them off during incidents or failing to disclose footage, raising questions regarding accountability.
The Met said it released footage of the arrest of the suspect in the Golders Green knife attacks in April “in response to a narrative growing online which criticised the force used by officers, who were bravely apprehending an armed man”.
It added: “It was put into use again following the significant public order policing operation last Saturday, where we were able to provide an insight into the abuse officers faced from protesters and the challenges involved in intervening in dense crowds to make arrests.”
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