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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66809642
Police officers are switching off their body-worn cameras when force is used, as well as deleting footage and sharing videos on WhatsApp.
A BBC investigation has uncovered more than 150 reports of camera misuse by forces in England and Wales - described as "shocking" by a leading officer.
In one case, siblings faced a two-year legal battle over footage showing officers' use of force against them.
The Home Office says police use of cameras must be lawful and justified.
The roll-out of body-worn cameras, costing at least £90m over the past decade, was intended to benefit both victims and the police - protecting officers against malicious complaints and improving the quality of evidence collected.
But during a two-year investigation, the BBC has obtained hundreds of reports of misuse from Freedom of Information requests, police sources, misconduct hearings and regulator reports.
The cameras were introduced to improve policing transparency, but we found more than 150 camera misuse reports with cases to answer over misconduct, recommendations for learning or where complaints were upheld.
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The most serious allegations include:
"Those incidents go to the heart of what undermines confidence in policing," he says.
He believes more footage should now be released in order to improve public trust.
'Two-year nightmare'
Among evidence obtained by the BBC are multiple previously unreleased videos of an incident which illustrates some of the concerns held about the use of cameras.
Siblings Louisa, 25, and Yufial, 23 were prosecuted after being accused of assaulting and abusing officers at a Black Lives Matter protest in London in May 2020. They always maintained their innocence and that the police assaulted them.
They faced a two-year legal battle to obtain crucial body-worn video evidence showing use of force by police against them.
The demonstration, outside Parliament, began peacefully but later ended in confrontation.
The clash, which only lasted a little longer than a minute, led to Louisa being restrained by a group of officers using a technique described as involving an "enormous" use of force by one restraint expert.
Mobile phone footage shared on social media showed her head being pressed into the ground.
Both siblings were arrested and charged. Yufial was accused of assaulting an officer, while Louisa was accused of being threatening or abusive towards another.
Footage seen by the BBC shows Louisa being pushed by a female officer while another shows Yufial being struck by a male officer, who is then pulled back by colleagues.
Body-worn cameras were supposed to increase transparency in policing but this investigation has uncovered more than 150 reports of failings. We reveal how cameras have been switched off when force was used, videos have been deleted or not disclosed, and footage has been shared on social media.
The video wasn't initially disclosed to either of them.
"[I kept thinking] I'm not going crazy, I know what happened, I saw the officer punch my brother," Louisa says.
They were both eventually acquitted. At Yufial's hearing, the judge said it seemed the prosecution had deliberately failed to disclose relevant information.
The BBC has heard multiple complaints that video is not being shared with defence teams under disclosure rules, despite its increasing importance in criminal cases.
We also learned that no body-worn video was disclosed from the camera of the officer who used force on Louisa.
The Met told the BBC it accepts there were errors with disclosure of evidence in Louisa and Yufial's case and apologised in a statement. Despite this, it proceeded with a second case against Louisa, alleging she had provided false information at the police station. She was recently acquitted again.
No action has been taken against any of the officers involved.
The siblings say their "two-year nightmare" has had a significant impact on their lives. Louisa deferred a law degree for three years, fearing a prosecution, while Yufial lost his job. Both blame the police misuse of body-worn video.
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This is going to absolutely stun people who thought independent reviews were both stringent and thorough.
Body cam? Just turn it off.
Something exciting happened? Just share it on the socials.
Accidentally record yourself committing crime? Just delete it.
Don't worry. People will assume you just did your best and that everyone investigated everything thoroughly as per whatever they read on the internet!
Police officers are switching off their body-worn cameras when force is used, as well as deleting footage and sharing videos on WhatsApp.
A BBC investigation has uncovered more than 150 reports of camera misuse by forces in England and Wales - described as "shocking" by a leading officer.
In one case, siblings faced a two-year legal battle over footage showing officers' use of force against them.
The Home Office says police use of cameras must be lawful and justified.
The roll-out of body-worn cameras, costing at least £90m over the past decade, was intended to benefit both victims and the police - protecting officers against malicious complaints and improving the quality of evidence collected.
But during a two-year investigation, the BBC has obtained hundreds of reports of misuse from Freedom of Information requests, police sources, misconduct hearings and regulator reports.
The cameras were introduced to improve policing transparency, but we found more than 150 camera misuse reports with cases to answer over misconduct, recommendations for learning or where complaints were upheld.
---
The most serious allegations include:
- Cases in seven forces where officers shared camera footage with colleagues or friends - either in person, via WhatsApp or on social media
- Images of a naked person being shared between officers on email and cameras used to covertly record conversations
- Footage being lost, deleted or not marked as evidence, including video, filmed by Bedfordshire Police, of a vulnerable woman alleging she had been raped by an inspector - the force later blamed an "administrative error"
- Switching off cameras during incidents, for which some officers faced no sanctions - one force said an officer may have been "confused"
"Those incidents go to the heart of what undermines confidence in policing," he says.
He believes more footage should now be released in order to improve public trust.
'Two-year nightmare'
Among evidence obtained by the BBC are multiple previously unreleased videos of an incident which illustrates some of the concerns held about the use of cameras.
Siblings Louisa, 25, and Yufial, 23 were prosecuted after being accused of assaulting and abusing officers at a Black Lives Matter protest in London in May 2020. They always maintained their innocence and that the police assaulted them.
They faced a two-year legal battle to obtain crucial body-worn video evidence showing use of force by police against them.
The demonstration, outside Parliament, began peacefully but later ended in confrontation.
The clash, which only lasted a little longer than a minute, led to Louisa being restrained by a group of officers using a technique described as involving an "enormous" use of force by one restraint expert.
Mobile phone footage shared on social media showed her head being pressed into the ground.
Both siblings were arrested and charged. Yufial was accused of assaulting an officer, while Louisa was accused of being threatening or abusive towards another.
Footage seen by the BBC shows Louisa being pushed by a female officer while another shows Yufial being struck by a male officer, who is then pulled back by colleagues.
Body-worn cameras were supposed to increase transparency in policing but this investigation has uncovered more than 150 reports of failings. We reveal how cameras have been switched off when force was used, videos have been deleted or not disclosed, and footage has been shared on social media.
The video wasn't initially disclosed to either of them.
"[I kept thinking] I'm not going crazy, I know what happened, I saw the officer punch my brother," Louisa says.
They were both eventually acquitted. At Yufial's hearing, the judge said it seemed the prosecution had deliberately failed to disclose relevant information.
The BBC has heard multiple complaints that video is not being shared with defence teams under disclosure rules, despite its increasing importance in criminal cases.
We also learned that no body-worn video was disclosed from the camera of the officer who used force on Louisa.
The Met told the BBC it accepts there were errors with disclosure of evidence in Louisa and Yufial's case and apologised in a statement. Despite this, it proceeded with a second case against Louisa, alleging she had provided false information at the police station. She was recently acquitted again.
No action has been taken against any of the officers involved.
The siblings say their "two-year nightmare" has had a significant impact on their lives. Louisa deferred a law degree for three years, fearing a prosecution, while Yufial lost his job. Both blame the police misuse of body-worn video.
---
This is going to absolutely stun people who thought independent reviews were both stringent and thorough.
Body cam? Just turn it off.
Something exciting happened? Just share it on the socials.
Accidentally record yourself committing crime? Just delete it.
Don't worry. People will assume you just did your best and that everyone investigated everything thoroughly as per whatever they read on the internet!
