Met begins body worn camera roll-out

The deployment, which got underway this week in Lewisham, follows a successful trial, as a well as a public consultation and input from academia. According to the Met, it will be the biggest use of the technology anywhere in the world.

Speaking of the cameras, which are manufactured by Axon, Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, said: "Body worn video will support our officers in the many challenging situations they have to deal with, at the same time as building the public's confidence.

"Our experience of using cameras already shows that people are more likely to plead guilty when they know we have captured the incident on a camera. That then speeds up justice, puts offenders behind bars more quickly and most importantly protects potential victims.

"Video captures events in a way that can't be represented on paper in the same detail. It has been shown the mere presence of this type of video can often defuse potentially violent situations without the need for force to be used."