Body Worn Video (BWV)

BWV is evidence gathered from an overt recording device worn by police officers and police staff. It can collect audio and video footage during police interaction with the public and provides enhanced evidence gathering capability at an incident or scene.   

It has a 30 second pre-record setting. This means that when activated it will automatically capture the 30 seconds of video footage prior to the device being activated. It does not capture audio on those 30 seconds - only visual footage.  

Until it is manually activated, no footage (audio or visual) is saved. 

It will not be used to capture the entirety of an officer’s working day. Police in Scotland will require to consciously activate the camera as guided by their Standard Operating Procedure. 

It will, where practical, be activated by police officers in advance of arriving at an incident 

It will not (routinely) be used to record the provision of witness statements, but it may capture the witness’ initial account of an incident. 

BWV footage which has evidential significance should be provided by Police Scotland to us at the same time as the Standard Prosecution Report (SPR).  

The footage will be deemed to have evidential significance where police assess that it is important information which either forms part of the case against the accused or exculpates them. 

Where evidential footage is available, but cannot be provided with the SPR, officers must clearly note why that is the case and provide a timescale for provision.    

The Lord Advocate's guidelines provide assistance to police officers regarding the approach to be taken in connection with the handling and submission of Body Worn Video footage.

In the SPR, a breakdown of what is contained within any relevant BWV should be included within the Description of Event section which forms the basis of the Summary of Evidence document. 

BWV footage will be provided to COPFS digitally, via DESC (the Digital Evidence Sharing Capability). Thereafter, BWV will be disclosed to defence agents increasingly through the Defence Access Service (DAS).  

Where BWV footage represents key or specified evidence, it should be disclosed in line with the Summary Case Management practice note. 

Prosecutors will disclose information which meets the materiality test set out section 121 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010.  

Prosecutors (and in some cases the police) may redact manifestly irrelevant/immaterial senstive personal information from the BWV  i.e., information that does not meet the materiality test. 

BWV may capture real evidence of an incident, for example, the state of a locus or a complainer’s initial account of an event which may be res gestae or de recenti.  

The footage may provide independent corroboration of an officer’s evidence, and in some cases may in fact be the primary evidence in a case.    

It is expected that the complainer’s initial account to police on arrival at an incident (which will often include res gestae/de recenti statements) may be extremely powerful evidence. However, BWV footage has the potential to be distressing/contain sensitive information and it must be handled sensitively.  

It will not for example, always be appropriate to play the footage to the complainer themselves. The guidance to prosecutors is to take a trauma informed approach.  

Where it is deemed essential for a complainer to be shown BWV, complainers should be informed in advance of trial that it will be shown to them.  

It is anticipated that use will be made of applications under s.271M of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 to allow the BWV footage of a vulnerable witness to be received as all, or part of, their evidence in chief.  

Where a trial is avoided by way of a plea of guilty, the BWV footage may be shown to the Sheriff to assist their decision making. The guidance to prosecutors is that no guarantee shall be made during plea negotiations that BWV footage will not be shown.