The police in Lower Saxony are now using 500 body cams. The cameras, which the officers usually carry on their shoulders, are supposed to record what is happening in conflict-prone situations and help to relax such situations. At the beginning of the year, the number of body cams in the Göttingen police department more than doubled to a total of 121. Previously, the Hanover Police Department 28 received bodycams for area-wide use in all 24 Services. The cameras should also protect the officers from excesses of violence and serve to secure evidence.

Interior Minister: Bodycams reduce escalations “So far there has been very positive feedback on the body cams from our police officers,” said Lower Saxony Interior Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) of the news agency dpa . “The cameras are now being used in all of Lower Saxony’s police headquarters.” The visibility of the bodycam on the uniform is often enough to prevent escalations and ultimately prevent them. “This has a positive effect on the safety and ultimately also on the health of our police officers.”

In the Braunschweig Police Department 39 Cameras available, in Lüneburg 138, in Oldenburg 105 and in Osnabrück 39. Initially, a total of around 500 body cameras should be procured from the Lower Saxony Logistics Center (LZN); There is an option to procure further 500 devices.

28 Retained for days The recordings of the day are transferred to a server in Hanover via a docking station in the police inspections. There they will be deleted after 28 days – unless they are required as evidence in criminal proceedings. The officers who have a camera with them have a specially marked uniform with the inscription “Video recording”.

The use of the cameras is possible due to changes to the Lower Saxony Police and Order Act, which were passed in May 2019. There had been massive protests and large-scale demonstrations against the changes. Since then, the law has allowed the police, under certain conditions, to make image and sound recordings of operations in public spaces. Recordings of operations in private rooms are not permitted. The use of the bodycams is also criticized because the police make arbitrary decisions about their use, so that they should hardly be useful as evidence against the officers, for example in excess of violence.

(tig)