Officers watched body-worn footage for ‘entertainment’

More than 70 officers from the Police of Northern Ireland (PSNI) watched body-worn video of drug arrests for their “entertainment and entertainment”, an investigation has revealed.

Between 2019 and 2022, the video was viewed mostly “without a lawful purpose” at 20 police stations 248 times, including 21 times by one officer.

The police ombudsman’s office said 74 officers had been subject to “administrative action” aimed at improving their conduct.

The PSNI said it had accepted three recommendations from the Police Ombudsman and introduced additional safeguards in relation to body warning videos.

Another officer is the subject of an ongoing investigation into potential criminality in connection with access to the materials.

The footage shows how a person was arrested for possession of illegal drugs.

During the incident, the arresting officer made the mistake of issuing a criminal warning, “making a colleague laugh in the background”.

The chief executive of the Office of the Police Ombudsman, Hugh Hume, said: “The video may have been viewed for fun and entertainment, but the officers who did so had no respect for the privacy of the man arrested, nor the emotional well-being of their colleague depicted in the video.” .

The problem was revealed during a separate investigation.

“The responses received from officers when asked to state their reasons for accessing the video show a clear lack of awareness that it could be a criminal or misdemeanor offence,” Mr Hume said.

“Several officers have indicated in their responses that as a result of the investigation they have updated their knowledge of the PSNI’s guidance on body-worn video, which I welcome.”

He said the “management action” approach was a “reasonable and proportionate outcome”.

The PSNI has adopted a number of guidelines aimed at tackling the misuse of body videos.

However, he rejected the proposed sampling procedure – random inspection – to “assess the extent of unauthorized access to the body-worn video system”.

The PSNI said it had introduced sampling by line managers, as well as independent scrutiny through our newly created Service Accountability Commission, which it said “achieved the same end result”.

“Given the weaknesses in controlling access to body-worn video, we believe there remains a significant residual risk that personal and personal data may be accessed without a legitimate police purpose,” Mr Hume said.

He added that the ombudsman’s findings were reported to the office of the Information Commissioner.

Deputy Chief Constable Chris Todd said the PSNI had taken a number of steps to “ensure that officers are aware of their responsibilities in relation to the legal requirements for acceptable use and the implications for the protection of body-worn footage surveillance data”.

“Following the findings of the Police Ombudsman’s investigation, the police service has taken appropriate management action and will continue to review procedures and policies around body-worn video access on an ongoing basis,” he said.