Body cam

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Body-Cam (Axon) of the police in Baden-Württemberg
Docking stations
Train steward with body cam
Magdeburg police officer with body cam (Netco)

The so-called body cam (English for "body camera ") is a video camera worn visibly by police forces , it is used to document what is happening - actions of citizens and police officers. Body cams have been used by individual police units in the UK since 2005, after having been tested in Denmark. Numerous German police authorities are now also using body cams. Furthermore, these are the subject of current research, as well as social discussions, particularly under data protection aspects .

Germany

The majority of the federal states are considering the use of these devices, according to the head of the Rhineland-Palatinate “Body-Cam working group”, Heiko Arnd.

Federal level

Federal Police

Since February 2016, body cams have been tested by the Federal Police in the inspection areas of Berlin-Ostbahnhof and Berlin-Hauptbahnhof . In the control and patrol service, the systems of a British and German manufacturer for mobile camera surveillance are checked 24 hours a day. The devices from both manufacturers have the same features, such as construction, one-hand operation, no permanent recording, audio recordings that can optionally be switched on and off and visual display during operation.

On January 29, 2016, testing also began within the St. Augustin Federal Police Directorate . In the main train stations in Cologne and Düsseldorf, a new resource is being tested by carrying the body cams, which could be of particular importance in criminal proceedings, for example. In the area of ​​the Munich Federal Police Directorate, the body cams are expected to be used at the main and east train stations in Munich after instruction by police officers .

At the Federal Police Headquarters in Hanover, testing in the area of ​​the Federal Police Inspection Hamburg will start on February 10, 2016 after the officers have been briefed. Hamburg Central Station is the focus of the test phase . The officials involved take part in the testing voluntarily. The video recording is actively triggered by the officers and should u. a. protect against violent attacks in control situations.

The federal police store data from recordings from body cameras using cloud computing at Amazon Web Services . This was written by the Federal Police Headquarters in a response to a written request from FDP MP Benjamin Strasser .

German Railways (DB)

In July 2016, it became known through Bild am Sonntag that the DB had equipped some employees of its DB security at train stations with body cams for testing purposes. These employees are exposed to violence more often, the video image is transmitted to a monitor, and the uniform of those equipped with this camera is labeled “Video surveillance”.

After a successful pilot test , body cams have been purchased nationwide for DB Sicherheit employees at large train stations and in the vicinity of sports and major events since July 2017.

Country level

Baden-Württemberg

In Stuttgart , Mannheim and Freiburg , the use of body cams was tested for one year by the Baden-Württemberg state police , starting in 2016 . Interior Minister Reinhold Gall hoped that this would reduce the number of violent acts against police officers. After extensive preparatory work, a six-week test phase was started in April 2017: a total of 30 body cams are used on patrol duty at six metropolitan police stations. With the selection of the test presidia, the first knowledge about the effect of body cams should be obtained as quickly as possible.

In February 2019, Interior Minister Thomas Strobel announced that it would roll out body cams across the country. The equipment should be completed by summer 2019.

Bavaria

In Bavaria , the Bavarian police have been testing body cams since November 2, 2016 in Munich , Augsburg and Rosenheim . Initially, only a small number of the officers were equipped with it. Three different systems were tested for a year. The recordings should be used specifically in dangerous locations and in critical situations. According to State Police President Wilhelm Schmidbauer , for example, at night these could be the so-called party miles and walking areas, where fights often occur due to high levels of alcoholism. In the opinion of the Bavarian Interior Minister Herrmann , the pilot test has proven itself. A corresponding statutory regulation was incorporated into Article 33 of the Police Tasks Act (PAG) with effect from May 25, 2018 . After a one-year pilot test, the Bavarian police were permanently equipped with body cams in March 2019. At the same time, 1400 body cameras valued at around 1.8 million euros were procured. Thomas Petri , the state commissioner for data protection in Bavaria, criticized the so-called pre-recording function, as it could also capture completely bystanders.

Hamburg

In Hamburg go since June 19, 2015 officers from the police in the field of as Davidwache known PK 15 each weekend in five teams on patrol. One of the officers is equipped with a shoulder camera and a recording and display module. The camera is operated with a radio remote control on the wrist.

Hesse

On May 30, 2013, the Frankfurt am Main police headquarters were the first police authority in Germany to start a one-year pilot project on the "use of mobile video surveillance". On October 1, 2014, the Frankfurt am Main police headquarters compiled a final report on the experience gained with the use of the body cameras.

After the successful pilot project from the point of view of the Hessian Interior Minister Peter Beuth (CDU) , camera systems will be procured for further police stations in Hesse , also in Offenbach and Wiesbaden . A legal basis for the use of body cams was created with the amendment to Section 14, Paragraph 6 of the Hessian Law on Public Safety and Order (HSOG) in September 2015.

Lower Saxony

After the end of a pilot test with 20 body cameras from December 2016 to March 2017, Interior Minister Boris Pistorius announced the acquisition of another 500 body cams for the Lower Saxony police in November 2017 . The costs for this were given at around half a million euros. In Lower Saxony , only pictures are currently allowed to be recorded; sound recordings are not yet permitted. The cameras are to be used in hot spots and in urban areas.

Barbara Thiel , the state commissioner for data protection in Lower Saxony, criticized the use of the cameras as unlawful, as there has been no legal basis for their use so far.

North Rhine-Westphalia

In 2017, the requirements for the use of body cameras were regulated in the Police Act. In February 2019, the Düsseldorf regional court declared recordings from the bodycam camera of a police officer to be usable as evidence in court.

Rhineland-Palatinate

Zepcam , Rhineland-Palatinate Police

Rhineland-Palatinate wants to introduce body cameras to the police as the second federal state after Hesse . These could deter violent criminals and secure evidence in an emergency, according to State Interior Minister Roger Lewentz (SPD). The background is the growing violence against police officers. From July 1, 2015, two pilot projects are initially planned in Mainz and Koblenz with a total of 15 body cams and 50 specially trained police officers. The ministry puts the pure acquisition costs at 18,500 euros. After positive experience in testing the body cams in Koblenz and Mainz, the Ministry of the Interior, Sports and Infrastructure acquired 80 more cameras before the street carnival in Rhineland-Palatinate in 2016 and carried out the pilot projects in all upper and medium-sized centers by 1. July 2016 continued.

Saxony

With the passing of the new police law in Saxony on April 11, 2018, the police will have the opportunity to use body cams.

Austria

Federal Police

In March 2016, various models of body cameras were tested by the Austrian Federal Police . 12 copies in Vienna , 4 each in Salzburg and Styria , in total 20 pieces. The legal basis was created by an amendment to the Security Police Act. Due to the positive experiences in the test phase, the regular introduction of the body cams was decided, 300 pieces are to be purchased.

Justice Guard

The Ministry of Justice intended to use it on a trial basis from 2016 onwards with the special units of the justice guard , the justice guard task force (JEG) in selected prisons (JA) . The ministry examined the legal situation and realized that a test would not be covered by the Prison Act, which is why no test was carried out. "It depends on the political will whether there is a change in the law," says Josef Schmoll, spokesman for the General Directorate for Prisons at the beginning of January 2018, shortly after the first convention of the new ÖVP-FPÖ government.

Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB)

ÖBB security service

After the number of attacks on employees of the ÖBB security service, the federal railways purchased 50 body cams that are used at the main train stations in Graz and Vienna . Trial operation began on December 1, 2016, and regular operations are scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2017. The cameras are activated in the event of a relevant suspicion, the persons concerned are made aware of this beforehand and see themselves on a small screen when recording. The announcement often leads to the termination of the behavior complained of; in the first 5 months, relevant data was stored in 4 cases. At the beginning of May 2017, ÖBB described the experience as very positive.

S-Bahn controllers

Due to increased attacks on ticket inspectors in the Vienna S-Bahn operated by ÖBB , they were equipped with body cams from 2017. The test use is based "on a separate decision of the data protection commission".

Train attendant

From June 2017, ÖBB train attendants are to be equipped with cameras on a test basis.

Wiener lines

Based on the positive experiences with the police and the ÖBB security service, all employees of the security service of Wiener Linien were equipped with body cameras after a test phase in summer 2018 . Wiener Linien security is mainly used in the Vienna underground area .

Great Britain

Body Cam (VideoBadge) of a West Midlands Police Officer

In 2005, the first pilot trials of body cameras in the UK began on a smaller scale in the counties of Devon and Cornwall . Plymouth then belonged to five other test areas from 2006, where not only armed officers, but also patrol officers in certain districts were equipped with cameras on a trial basis. By 2010, body cams had already been used in 40 British police districts. In 2014, the British Secretary of State Damian Green approved the most comprehensive test run of body cams to date.

United States

In the USA, the use of body cameras for police officers is already more widespread. Civil rights activists are calling for these devices to be used as a nationwide instrument against violent attacks. US President Barack Obama announced in 2015 that he would support local authorities with $ 75 million over the next three years so that they can purchase 50,000 body cameras. There are currently around 750,000 police officers in the United States.

reception

Data protection activists are critical of the police's use of body cams. Their use is seen as an interference with the right to informational self-determination .

A study by the University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration in Gelsenkirchen, published in August 2019, found a general de-escalating effect of body cams in practical use. There were "no indications of a systematic risk to police officers from the use of body cams"; an increased number of attacks found was attributed to changes in behavior on the part of the officers with cameras that were “too defensive” according to the study. This does not speak against body cams, but for better training of the police officers equipped with them.

literature

  • Mario Martini ; David Nink; Michael Wenzel: Bodycams between Bodyguard and Big Brother - On the legal limits of filming security operations using miniature cameras and smartphones, NVwZ-Extra 24/2016, p. 1 ff., Rsw.beck.de/cms/?toc=NVwZ.2002 (long version available free of charge), or NVwZ 2016, p. 1772 f. (Short version).
  • Jens Zander: body cams in police operations. Verlag für Policewissenschaft, Frankfurt am Main 2016, ISBN 978-3-86676-450-7 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ From Denmark to Baltimore: 5 things you need to know about police body cams . In: atombash.com . May 3, 2015. Archived from the original on March 30, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2017.
  2. ↑ Camera cops: Other federal states are considering body cams for police operations . In: heise.de . June 8, 2015. Accessed November 17, 2015.
  3. ↑ BPOLD STA: Federal police tests mobile body cameras "BodyCams" are intended to deter violent criminals . In: presseportal.de . January 29, 2016. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  4. ^ Matthias Monroy: Video surveillance with "body cams": Police in Cologne and Düsseldorf hang warning signs on . In: netzpolitik.org . January 29, 2016. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  5. ↑ Marion Trimborn: Bodycam images stored on Amazon servers . In: noz.de . March 2, 2019. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  6. ↑ Bodycam data ends up on Amazon servers . In: tagesschau.de . March 2, 2019. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  7. ↑ http://orf.at/#/stories/2348826/ Deutsche Bahn tests body cameras for employees, orf.at July 10, 2016, accessed July 10, 2016.
  8. ↑ Bahn relies on body cams. June 30, 2017, accessed June 4, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Joseph Kelnberger: caution camera . In: sueddeutsche.de . February 2, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  10. ↑ Test run with shoulder cameras is coming . In: stuttgarter-zeitung.de . February 2, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  11. ↑ State-wide introduction of the Bodycam at the Baden-Württemberg police starts. Retrieved June 4, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Pilot project - Bavarian police officers test body cams . In: stern.de . November 3, 2016. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
  13. ↑ Bavaria's police get body cams . In: bayerische-staatszeitung.de . November 25, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  14. ↑ Klaus Kohnen: StMI: 'Body-Cams' for more protection of police officers - Minister of the Interior Herrmann plans to introduce it across Bavaria after a successful pilot project (on body cams in the PAG Reorganization Act) Bavarian Legal and Administrative Report (BayRVR), February 28, 2018
  15. ↑ How the police can use body cameras . In: br.de . March 11, 2019. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  16. ↑ Peter-Michael Ziegler: Hamburg police with body cameras: "Attention, record!" . In: heise.de . June 19, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  17. ↑ Police Headquarters Frankfurt am Main: Evaluations and plans of the state government for the use of so-called body cams in the police sector - final report of the Police Headquarters Frankfurt a. M. from 10/01/2014 . In: landtag.ltsh.de . October 1, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  18. ↑ Body cams will be used throughout Hesse from next year . In: Innen.hessen.de . October 1, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  19. ↑ Dennis-Kenji Kipker: Constitutional requirements for the use of prison police body cams - intrapol.org. Retrieved April 22, 2016 .
  20. ↑ Pistorius orders 500 body cams - and surprises the GdP . In: rundblick-niedersachsen.de . November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  21. ↑ Lower Saxony orders 500 body cams for the police . In: heise.de . November 10, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  22. ↑ Thiel objects to the use of the "bodycams" by the Lower Saxony police . In: lfd.niedersachsen.de . February 8, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  23. ↑ Welt.de: District Court evaluates Bodycam recordings as usable
  24. ^ Frank Schmidt-Wyk: Reduce violence against police officers: Rhineland-Palatinate is testing the use of body cams in Mainz . In: Allgemeine-zeitung.de . June 8, 2015. Accessed November 17, 2015.
  25. ^ Leipziger Volkszeitung: Saxony adopts controversial police law , accessed on April 11, 2019
  26. ↑ http://derstandard.at/2000031990925/Film-ab-Polizei-erhaelt-Bodycams Austria's police receive bodycams, February 29, 2016, accessed March 1, 2016.
  27. ↑ Police get 300 body cams. In: wien.orf.at. September 27, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2018 .
  28. ↑ Test over: Police get body cams. In: wien.orf.at. April 18, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2018 .
  29. ↑ Bodycams: No test in prison orf.at, January 6, 2018, accessed January 6, 2018.
  30. ↑ ÖBB-Securitys wear bodycams orf.at, December 15, 2016, accessed May 2, 2017.
  31. ↑ ÖBB equip train attendants with body cams orf.at, May 2, 2017, accessed May 2, 2017.
  32. ↑ Bodycams for inspectors in the S-Bahn. In: wien.orf.at. December 19, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2018 .
  33. ↑ Bodycams: No test in prison orf.at, January 6, 2018, accessed January 6, 2018.
  34. ↑ ÖBB equip train attendants with body cams orf.at, May 2, 2017, accessed May 2, 2017.
  35. ↑ Wiener Linien get bodycams. In: wien.orf.at. May 30, 2018. Retrieved November 8, 2018 .
  36. ↑ https://kurier.at/chronik/wien/bodycams-fuer-sicherheitsdienst-der-wiener-linien/310.991.190
  37. ↑ Underground security now with bodycams. In: wien.orf.at. Retrieved November 8, 2018 .
  38. ↑ https://www.heute.at/oesterreich/wien/story/Wiener-Linien--Bald-alle-Securities-mit-Bodycams-41654585
  39. ↑ Britan straps video cameras to police helmets . In: nbcnews.com . July 17, 2007. Retrieved November 17, 2015. In English
  40. ↑ Matthias Thibaut: British police officers should carry cameras . In: nbcnews.com . February 7, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  41. ↑ Jörg Diehl and Thies Schnack: Bodycams for police officers: hands up, we're filming . In: spiegel.de . July 3, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  42. ↑ Sebastian Fischer and Sandra Sperber: Bodycams to police officers: The camera cops . In: spiegel.de . December 20, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  43. ↑ Thomas Kuzaj: Use of cameras is controversial . In: nwzonline.de . March 12, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
  44. ↑ Final report on the use of bodycams. August 16, 2019, accessed August 17, 2019 .