Norfolk Council and Body Cameras

Norfolk council may provide council workers with body worn cameras to protect them from abuse.

22:06 28 July 2019

Council workers would soon be wearing video cameras to protect them against abuse if Norfolk authority plans are approved. Under the proposals, the Great Yarmouth Borough Council will provide the technology to planning enforcement officers, traffic wardens, environmental rangers and housing caretakers.

 

 

 

The report, which will be presented on 23rd July at a meeting of the council’s policy and resources committee, recommends that the introduction of body-worn cameras as “an additional form of protection against potential harm from working alone and/or anti-social behaviour and abuse.”

 

 

 

Carl Smith, leader of the council, said: "The primary aim of the cameras is to serve as a deterrent to potential acts of aggression, helping to ensure the health and safety of those employees who occasionally suffer verbal or sometimes physical abuse."

 

 

 

Cllr Colleen Walker, who also sits on the committee, said: "I can't see a problem with putting cameras for safety on officers, who are on the front line, dealing with the public.

 

 

 

"If you take carpark attendants, I would imagine sometimes it could get quite fraught," she added.