All frontline Met police officers should wear body cameras while on duty, former Cabinet minister Tessa Jowell and Baroness Lawrence urged today.
The senior Labour figures said in a report that police should have the cameras switched on for any encounter with a member of the public, in particular stop and searches.
They added that a quick roll-out of the technology and proper training of officers was essential to restoring trust in the police in some communities.
The Met police is understood to be discussing a £9 million roll-out of cameras with their City Hall bosses as part of plans to boost transparency and accelerate convictions. Scotland Yard began a year-long trial last May which saw 1,000 devices distributed to officers across 10 boroughs, as well as to firearms officers and other specialists.
The report by Dame Tessa and Baroness Lawrence follows a consultation with young people affected by stop and search. They write: “We’ve seen in London and around that world that when police officers wear cameras everyone benefits.
Officers are less likely to be assaulted, the public have more confidence in the police, and the evidence cameras collect helps secure more convictions for offences like domestic violence.”
Baroness Lawrence, who has campaigned for greater police transparency since the murder of her son Stephen in 1993, said she still saw “too many” people being stopped and searched without proper explanation — or proper respect. “Things will be much fairer and clearer for the police and the public if we have a record of every interaction,” she said.
Supporters argue that the presence of cameras can reduce tensions during stop and searches. However, some civil liberties campaigners say the move would put everyone under suspicion.
A Met spokesman said the Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC) and the College of Policing are “carrying out an extensive evaluation of the cameras which will be considered at the end of the pilot but early indications prove they are a valuable evidential and policing tool.”
