Recommendation 58

HM Government Accepted in Part

Government Response Body Worn Video (BWV) is a vital tool to improve accountability and transparency in policing. It allows greater scrutiny of interactions with the public, which both increases officer accountability for their conduct and protection for the officer. Over 80,000 cameras are now in use across all 43 forces. The Home Office asked the College to improve their stop and search guidance to cover BWV use, supervisory review and sharing of footage with scrutiny panels. This was published in July 2020 and since then most forces have adopted this guidance and are demonstrating best practice. We understand that a number of forces conduct reviews of BWV internally and with their community scrutiny panels. Good practice is shared to ensure compliance with data protection legislation, and the College has updated their APP to reflect guidance on this. Forces have been innovative in using technology throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure scrutiny has continued. The Home Office supports increased scrutiny of BWV footage in stop and search encounters, and we will explore whether we could go further in applying this scrutiny to other police powers. As we set out in Inclusive Britain, we will identify and seek opportunities to remove unnecessary barriers that prevent use of BWV and will explore how best to facilitate the sharing of BWV footage with local scrutiny panels, in order to improve the scrutiny of police decision-making and improve the understanding of legitimate police use of powers such as stop and search. We will work with police forces that have best practice in this area to explore the full extent of what can be achieved and ensure that this best practise is shared. This will enable communities to see how officers in their forces behave and enable both individual and organisational feedback on good and poor performance.Government Response The Government and the policing sector both have a role to play to ensure that racism stays out of policing. Much is already being done to provide ongoing scrutiny over the sector’s performance and how it is building trust with the public. The Home Office has fundamentally reformed its governance and oversight of policing. In 2019, the Home Secretary set up the National Policing Board to bring partners together to provide strategic direction and strong national grip over the law enforcement system. The Board is chaired by the Home Secretary, who has established four strategic policing priorities where we want to see improvement—this includes being trusted by the public to work together as one. Whilst policing is rightfully independent of the Government to ensure a fair and impartial criminal justice system, the Home Secretary uses the National Policing Board and its sub-governance to hold the sector to account for delivery of these priorities and to ensure we are collectively delivering what matters to the public. Through the National Policing Board and its sub-governance, we are providing strong leadership on key strategic priorities. We recognise that disparities faced by ethnic minorities are unique, but that there also can be interconnectivity between protected characteristics, such as gender. Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), diversity and trust in policing have been at the centre of recent agendas with updates expected later this year. The Home Secretary has driven strong action across government and policing to work together on co-ordinated and strategic activity to build back trust in policing in light of recent events across all communities. The NPCC continues to ensure that policing leaders and partners coordinate operations, improvements and reforms across forces. The Government also expects the College to continue improving its offer to provide those working in policing with the skills and knowledge necessary to prevent crime, protect the public, and secure public trust. HMICFRS independently assesses, and reports annually on, the effectiveness and efficiency of the 43 territorial forces in England and Wales, to promote improvement in policing. HMICFRS’ independent inspection reports are vital tools in providing the public with the information they need to hold their PCC to account, and for ensuring PCCs are able to effectively hold Chief Constables to account for force performance. HMICFRS’ inspections, thematic reports, and local monitoring of forces help provide transparency to the public, including on what forces are doing to improve police legitimacy. PCCs across England and Wales are locally elected and directly accountable to the communities they serve. They hold Chief Constables to account for tackling crime in their force area and ensuring community confidence is secured and strengthened. Since their inception in 2012, PCCs have brought real accountability to how Chief Constables and their forces perform, including on community relations, and will continue working hard to ensure that local communities have a stronger voice in poli