England's helmet camera initiative to go countrywide

As if the police and traffic wardens across the pond didn't have enough gadgetry to unwillingly tote around on the job, the Home Office is reportedly set to dole out £3 million ($6.1 million) "to equip police forces across the country with head camera technology." The decision has been made after earlier trials supposedly resulted in a reduction in violent crime, increase in arrests and convictions, and best of all, "less paperwork for the police." Notably, a set of guidelines will recommend that cops inform the culprits that they are indeed being taped, but that the footage won't end up on C.O.P.S. without their expressed written consent. Wait, we thought that human police in England were being phased out?

[Via The Register]

[The Fox @ Jul 13th 2007 5:27AM]

I suppose it might prevent cops from being prosecuted for violations of civil rights when they aren't doing the wrong thing... but I somehow suspect they're going to run into all sorts of "technical difficulties" around the time people get horribly abused. That's my take.