Eight London cops to get head-mounted video cameras

Eight of London's finest in the Metropolitan Police in Haringey (North London) have been selected to be the bearers of the first law enforcement head-mounted video cameras in the UK. The AA battery-sized cams, which are worn on a headset and sit just above the left ear, cost £1,800 ($3,410) each and record up to 12 hours of video on a waist-worn media player that resembles, for lack of a better parallel, an Archos player. We hope that these officers are trained in the ways of YouTube though -- police-sanctioned recording of hooligan debauchery immortalized on the internet surely would make for a great deterrent, no? Actually, no, scratch that, we've all seen "Cops."

[Via The Raw Feed]

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[Mike Fisher @ Nov 21st 2006 10:05AM]

They still dont have guns

[Daniel D @ Nov 21st 2006 10:39AM]

Yeah guns will solve the problem. Good one.

PS: In london armed police are only a few mins away if required.

[Matt @ Nov 21st 2006 1:39PM]

Actually they do have and use guns, despite what everyone (well, apart from those that have actually BEEN to the UK anyway...) thinks, e.g.:

http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilde:Police_armed_uk.jpg

[Smeagol @ Nov 21st 2006 10:11AM]

Im sure the cams will convientently malfunction if the event that they need to dish out a major beat down.

[Paul Watson @ Nov 21st 2006 10:27AM]

I think they are Archos based as when they were on the telly they zoomed into the units and it said Archos on the side.

[Chocolate Starfish @ Nov 21st 2006 10:30AM]

Strap the camera to a police dog and lets go to the coffee shop.

[Samuel Wakefield @ Nov 21st 2006 10:37AM]

Im from the UK and they had it on TV ... It is a Archos player they have. The video quality is amazing as well. Quite comfortable to wear as well the police officer said

[Samuel Wakefield @ Nov 21st 2006 10:40AM]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolavconsole/ukfs_news/hi/bb_wm_fs.stm?news=1&bbram=1&bbwm=1&nbram=1&nbwm=1&nol_storyid=6164270&checkedBandwidth=bb&checkedMedia=asx&subtitles=hide&alreadySeen=1

[Chris Mear @ Nov 21st 2006 10:50AM]

Call me when one of them records approximately 18 hours of static.

[TexRob @ Nov 21st 2006 11:04AM]

Chris, I'll be sure to contact you.

[Ken @ Nov 21st 2006 11:29AM]

While I'm sure that's the way it's always been done, I doubt anyone would believe you.

[Mike @ Nov 21st 2006 11:00AM]

That's a big AA battery.

[Farris @ Nov 21st 2006 11:08AM]

Maybe its just a very small person?

[strider_mt2k @ Nov 21st 2006 11:05AM]

She's okay to go...

Durnit, Chris Mear beat me to the reference.

Kudos, Chris!

[flamer's grill @ Nov 21st 2006 11:07AM]

never want to live in britain. Seems like a scene right out of 1984 the movie.

/wants to live in Vermont, where I can carry a concealed handgun w/o permit to protect myself instead of having to wait "a few minutes" for police to arrive, by which time I'll already be dead

[Parker @ Nov 21st 2006 12:00PM]

America's headed the same direction. I'd recommend New Hampshire; join the Free State Project, it's probably your best bet to stay away from this crap.

[Richard John @ Nov 21st 2006 4:13PM]

"like out of 1984 the movie"

God bless America!

You *do* know 1984 was a book first, right?

[Isaac @ Nov 21st 2006 11:09AM]

Daniel D: Of course guns solve problems. Didn't anyone teach you anything? Violence solves all problems. Well, only if I win.

Chris Mear: LOL, nice reference. Fitting.

Next step: head-mounted "blues", flashing high-vis LED lights that rotate around the brim or peak, maybe a head or shoulder-mounted siren too...

[PTUK @ Nov 21st 2006 11:26AM]

Yet another device to spy on all the UK people. Britain is now the most heavily survielled country in the world. Orwell would be so proud of Tony and all his little oppressors. Won't be long before they are in our homes with audio and video. Then they can lock us up for thinking.

[Hot Karl @ Nov 21st 2006 12:09PM]

Oh yeah, get a nice shot of the right side of my stomach, baby.

[Maff Mace @ Nov 21st 2006 12:11PM]

@ flamers grill

there's hardly anyone in the UK with guns, it's not like the US where everyone and their pets have one.

Don't know why the coppers in London don't have guns though, they walk round Leeds with them

[flamer's grill @ Nov 21st 2006 12:30PM]

And that is why britain is a crime-ridden hell-hole - because people can rob, rape and pillage with the knowledge that no one has the capability to stop them.

Compare that to states in the US where it is lawful to carry a concealed firearm - criminals realize (or will realize very quickly should they assault the wrong person) that they may attack someone who has the ability to KILL THEM. Would make you think twice, don't you think? Instead, in Britain, you have brazen criminals who stab people without concern, documented on CCTV, where the police are "a few minutes away" and powerless to stop it.

US vs UK Crime stats: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/html/cjusew96/contents.htm

UK town angry at crime statistics:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5006852.stm

Great quote from the article: "'Likewise, gun crime continues to fall, dispelling the myth that Nottingham was ever the UK's gun capital,' he said."

Duh. No one has a gun, so you get stabbed, beaten, or raped. The absence of one type of assault does not mean the rest are also low.

[Flunk @ Nov 21st 2006 3:55PM]

@flamer\'s grill
ummm.. what the hell are you on about? Did you even bother to read the links you posted? No, I thought not.
English rape in 1992 = 4,142
U.S. rape in 1992 = 109,060

U.S. murder in 1992 = 23,760
English murder in 1992 = 687

And just to make my point, when was the last time you heard about a teenage kid with a gun go into a school in the UK and murder people? Oh wait.. thats only in America. For a country that thinks it runs the world you can't even run your own country.

[Scot @ Nov 21st 2006 4:41PM]

There certainly are police over here with guns, and rather large guns at that.

As for Nottingham, the whole point about it being the gun capital is that people do have guns - both criminals and police. There is so much crime where guns are involved that in some areas the police are as well armed as American police (they might even be better armed than some Americans)

It's also a myth that no ordinary people have guns, some people do (there's a gun shop just down the road from me and I live in North London). There are restrictions on them - more so than in America, but it's still possible to own a gun if you really want to.

[spookthehamster @ Nov 21st 2006 2:31PM]

The security guys at our uni (in London) nightclub have been wearing these for a few weeks now.

[Mark @ Nov 21st 2006 3:44PM]

I don't see where they get the price from, the Archos AV500, the head mounted camera & the head clip surely can't cost �1,800. I've priced it up at less than �500-�650!#

(Dependant on model).

[Jack @ Nov 21st 2006 4:18PM]

Hahaha ... Americans are such morons. Thanks so much you guys for setting in concrete my comtempt for you.

Yes, lets solve gun crime by giving everyone guns!! what a great idea!
Of course there won't be school shooting every 5 minutes and a serial killer around every corner and snipers hidden in cars and the trusty postman going, well, postal.

God bless america :D

... Hey while we're at it, lets save the middle east by invading it!! :D yay!! Freedom!!

... Idiots.

[R. C. @ Jul 9th 2007 7:43PM]

@ Jack
Haha Bitish are such morons! Only a moron would make a generalization about an entire country based upon a handful of prople, like you did!

Oh, wait..

[Jack @ Nov 21st 2006 4:21PM]

"You *do* know 1984 was a book first, right?"

... Why educate yourself when you have Hollywood? Why learn about other countries and cultures when Hollywood can give you those answers?!

Ignorance is bliss.

[Samo @ Nov 21st 2006 5:06PM]

What a load of bull, flamer's grill... You mean you actually *believe* that guns *deter* crime?! Don't you think that you can remove the crime (say, for example, gun crime) by removing the *tool*?! If 0% of the general public had guns (unrealistic, but humour me), then guess how much gun crime would there be?!

I live in London, and like EVERYWHERE ELSE in the world, there is crime, but I'm thankful that I can walk down a street without being scared that the next big/ scary person might just try and rob me with a concealed pistol.

It's illegal to carry a concealed weapon, at least in London, even a knife with a blade larger than 2.5" is illegal... But we do have armed cops and to my knowledge you *can* own a gun, but it's damn hard and i think pistols are really hard to come by (shotguns are easier... Try hiding THAT in your coat).

OBTW, I think these head cams will be nice...

[Scot @ Nov 21st 2006 5:52PM]

I don't think police in the UK need to learn how to use YouTube - the criminals over here are happy enough to upload videos of their crimes themselves.

Children Film Railway Prank
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/5298544.stm

Arrest after theft posted on web
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_east/6090992.stm

Web worries (about an attack on a teenage boy)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/politics_show/6151318.stm

[E71 @ Nov 21st 2006 6:52PM]

To make 'em look stupider than they look now.

[flamer's grill @ Nov 21st 2006 10:41PM]

So, because I referenced 1984 the movie, I have never read, or even heard of the book? Not quite. Just the first thing that popped into my head as I replied. Everyone has read the book by the time they leave middle school in my school district. Same with Brave New World. But if you wish to think higher of yourself by implying others are ignorant, you may continue to do so.

"What a load of bull, flamer's grill... You mean you actually *believe* that guns *deter* crime?! Don't you think that you can remove the crime (say, for example, gun crime) by removing the *tool*?! If 0% of the general public had guns (unrealistic, but humour me), then guess how much gun crime would there be?!"

Well no duh, you dope. Of course there wouldn't be any GUN crimes. But there are other ways to be murdered. Beaten, bludgeoned, strangled, stabbed, etc... Just because there are no guns does not mean people are not roaming the streets intent on harming you. They will find other ways to do it. And since it is very hard for a law-abiding citizen to carry defensive weapons like knives, etc, criminals will brazenly break the law and assault others because they know that NO ONE THEY ENCOUNTER HAS THE MEANS TO STOP THEM. No one will have a gun, tazer, knife, etc. The big strong bullies will be able to do what they like because they are simply bigger and stronger than others.

The police? They are "a few minutes away." In the mean time, you are being mugged and possibly murdered and the criminals are long gone by the time the police arrive. Who notifies the police? CCTV?

CRIMINALS NEED TO FEAR BEING SHOT. Or at least tazed. They need to think twice before they decide to rob someone. "Does that person have a weapon? Will he shoot me?" Criminals only want to offend when they are most likely to succeed without getting caught/killed.

So we disagree, but it's really moot because you live where the zeigeist trends toward your personal views. Fine. Where I live, my views are generally accepted. I don't personally own a gun, but I feel confident that one day, if I deem necessary, I will be able to purchase one and keep it with me without government harrassment. On the other hand, the next time a burglar invades your home, you will be powerless to stop him. Just see how long "a few minutes" seems when you are being victimized and there is nothing you can do.

[Murc @ Nov 21st 2006 11:08PM]

they will probably forget to turn it off when taking a shit. lol

[Thor @ Nov 22nd 2006 8:53AM]

This is a great idea I think, it has nothing to do with spying on the citizens, but a tool to keep both parties honest. Criminals wont be able to accuse cops of mistreatment when you can just look up the video and see that they did everything by the books, and it works both ways. And if it so happens that during some incident the camera is turned off, that should constitute an automatic judgment in favor of the citizen.

Regarding guns for the cops and public, someone said, that criminals should fear getting shot. Hmm, what happens then? The criminal acquires a gun of course, what did you expect?
Cops should definetly have instant access to less-than lethal weapons for situations that require them, and some patrols that are armed in case of an emergency.

Quote from earlier commenter in regards to armed police unites: "They are "a few minutes away." In the mean time, you are being mugged and possibly murdered and the criminals are long gone by the time the police arrive. Who notifies the police? CCTV?"

Well, armed or not, the police is usually always a few minutes away. I know this all to well working as a bouncer and need police assitance removing troublemakers quite often, and the wait can be up to 20 minutes sometimes, and we are 4 minutes from the nearest police station

[Nomi @ Jul 9th 2007 7:50PM]

PWNED!!!

[jbwages @ Jul 9th 2007 9:57PM]

"...I write because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing. ...Of late years I have tried to write less picturesquely and more exactly. ANIMAL FARM was the first book in which I tried, with full consciousness of what I was doing, to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole. I hope to write another fairly soon. It is bound to be a failure, every book is a failure, but I do know with some clarity what kind of book I want to write. ..." - George Orwell

It was a warning.

[Hafizur Rahman @ Mar 17th 2008 2:03PM]

I want to comunicate every sector of London Metro politan police for collect the know-how of the policing of UK and police help at london.

[Hafizur Rahman @ Mar 20th 2008 8:47AM]

curently I required a police guide in where the police panel code and conducts of police personnel are included. I also need the direct E-mail no of police commissioner of london and the cabinate of England

[Hafizur Rahman @ May 21st 2008 5:01PM]

I have received a mail from London Scottish Bank Plc send by John Freel , Director, Foreign Fund Release Department, and he ask me 950USD as the cost of clearence certificate of fund release. Now what shall I do sir?
I have no ability to send such money , moreover , either I sahll get the fund comes up to 500,000 USD or not I dont know.In this context I want the help of London Metropolitan Police. and if the Police authority send me a letter through the Embassador of UK in Bangladesh office then I sahll try to send the fees for fund release.
I am waitting for the kind advice from the police .