Eight police forces – Bedfordshire, Nottinghamshire, the Met, Hampshire, Durham, City of London, Merseyside and North Wales – will share more than £4m to spend on body worn cameras. It’s a part of the Home Office’s £50m fund for projects aimed at – in the Government’s words – ‘transforming policing through innovation and collaboration’.
Other schemes include forensics techniques and joint working between the police and fire service. The Metropolitan Police for example won its bid for £113,000 to help develop a new spray which will be able to quickly identify body fluids at crime scenes.
Policing Minister Mike Penning said: “I am delighted that every police force in the country showed such a positive, forward-thinking attitude and came to us with new ideas and ways of working. It meant we could allocate £50 million to some really innovative projects and I am already looking forward to visiting forces and seeing the results.
“Crime has fallen by more than 10 per cent under this government. I believe we can help the police do their job even better by encouraging them to embrace new technology and build on ideas coming from the grass roots.”
The Police Innovation Fund is in its first full year of operation and up to £50m will be allocated every 12 months.
Earlier this year, the Home Office made a precursor fund of £20m available to Police and Crime Commissioners, which also saw much money go on body worn video. For the bids in full visit the Home Office website: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/338076/2014-15_Innovation_Successful_Bids.pdf.
