Environment Agency trials use of body-worn cameras by enforcement officers

Environment Agency enforcement officers in the North East are experimenting with body-worn cameras.

The six-months trial marks the first time the agency has used the cameras and will determine whether they are effective in reducing cases of anti-social behaviour, assaults and threats against staff, particularly those working with illegal waste sites and at remote locations.

If successful, the cameras could be offered to enforcement staff across the agency.

The pilot scheme began after agency officer Paul Whitehill, a former police officer, was threatened with violence when he and a colleague made a routine visit to an illegal waste site.

Whitehill said: “I worked with body cameras in the police and saw how effective they can be so suggested we run a trial.”

The agency said its enforcement staff regularly encountered aggressive behaviour and since 2001 it had successfully prosecuted 59 cases of obstruction, hostility or threatening behaviour towards them.

Rachael Caldwell from the Environment Agency’s waste and enforcement department, said: “Studies also show that people are less likely to contest the evidence when they know their offence is captured on camera. This could help speed up justice and reduce legal costs.”

Mark Smulian