WE ARE seeking your thoughts on our officers wearing body worn video (BWV) as part of their uniform. This is not new technology and is widely used in police forces in England. It has shown to be best practice and is the best evidence produced in court.

At this time, we will only be rolling this out to our armed officers, who are national resources and not routinely deployed in East Lothian.

This process will allow us to assess the impact of their use, which may improve officer safety and assist in resolving complaints against officers. Using these cameras could have a positive impact for court proceedings, increasing early guilty pleas and reducing the time officers spend at court. This means more valuable time patrolling our communities dealing with local issues.

Our Chief Constable has committed to a focused and concise public engagement exercise prior to the rollout and I ask that you visit the Police Scotland website to have your say. It’s important for us to ensure you have a voice and it will help us gather and address any ethical and community-related concerns where possible.

At this time, there is no imminent plan for officers in East Lothian to have body-worn cameras but this pilot and the survey may lead to a national rollout which would mean local officers wearing them when dealing with incidents and events in our county.

This rollout to armed officers will coincide with the COP26 conference. COP26 is set to be the biggest conference ever hosted in the UK, with the main conference being held at the Glasgow SECC.

Police body worn camera

Police body worn camera

At the summit, delegates, including heads of state, climate experts and negotiators, will come together to agree coordinated action to tackle climate change

Planning is well under way for the complex and challenging policing operation to support the delivery of a safe, secure event. It starts in November but there will be many events in the lead-up.

In addition to the conference, there are associated COP26 events planned across the country, with the potential for protest activity.

This event requires a significant policing footfall and officers from East Lothian will be involved; we are currently in the process of providing training to ensure we have enough skilled officers for some of the deployments.

As we start the recovery from the pandemic, you will no doubt hear more and more about COP26.

We continue to see an exceptional level of compliance across the county with Covid-19 restrictions and I thank you all for this. With vaccinations going well, I hope we start to see some light at the end of this challenging tunnel.

I must ask, once again, that you continue to follow the Government’s guidance to ensure we get out of this pandemic as quick as we can. Thank you once again.