Around 22,000 Metropolitan Police men and women in London have been given wearable video cameras so they can record criminal acts. Microsoft’s Azure cloud service is to store and review the millions of hours of footage. The Body-Worn Video (BWV) cameras have been developed by Microsoft partner Axon.
Supt Adrian Hutchinson, from the Met, said: “With the rollout of BWV, the Metropolitan Police Service is now a world leader in the use of technology as part of our daily commitment to not only help us fight crime but to help the Met become more accountable. The technology will also show our officers at their best, dealing with difficult and dangerous situations every day.”
All neighbourhood and response officers in the capital were given BWV, which are roughly the size of a cigarette packet and attach to the shoulder area of a vest. Costing nearly £10m, the move made the Met the biggest user of the technology of any police force, it is thought.
The evidence will be stored in the UK after Microsoft opened multiple data centres in the region in September. The Ministry of Defence has signed up to use Microsoft Office 365 and Azure cloud services, with the Government citing value for money and security.
Supt Hutchinson added: “The Met has selected Microsoft Azure as we believe their UK data residency and transparency around secure data management offers both the public and the Police Service reassurance that this technology is being used effectively to support the prosecution of offenders, the safeguarding of private information and build confidence in policing.”
And Nicola Hodson, General Manager of Marketing and Operations at Microsoft UK, said: “When it comes to collecting evidence via BWV that will help safeguard the public and protect our police forces, the need to store masses of information securely yet ensure it is accessible by authorised personnel is paramount.
“We are delighted that the Metropolitan Police Service has recognised that Microsoft’s UK data centres and Azure platform are the perfect enablers of this service and we look forward to supporting the expansion of this scheme, which has the real potential to reduce crime across the London area.”
