POLICE —
BODY-WORN CAMERAS
437. Hon PETER COLLIER to
the minister representing the Minister for Police:
I
ask this question on behalf of Hon
Simon O'Brien, who is on
urgent parliamentary business. It is to the Leader of the House
representing the Minister for Police.
I refer to the appearance on news
programs and social media of video footage from body cameras worn by police,
such as of the recent Esperance high-risk arrest.
(1) What is the purpose of making
this sort of footage public?
(2) Is body cam footage the property
of the Western Australia Police Force?
(3) Was any payment received by
police for this footage?
(4) How does the Western
Australia Police Force make sure that someone receiving this footage from the
police does not profit from police efforts, by selling the footage to another
party; for example, a large news broadcaster?
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank Hon Simon O'Brien
for some notice of the question. I represent the Minister for Police in this
chamber, so I have the answer. The following answer has been provided to me by
the Minister for Police.
The Western Australia Police Force
advises the following.
(1) The purpose is to inform the
public of matters of public interest.
(2) Yes.
(3) No.
(4) The WA Police
Force makes the vision available for media outlets to independently obtain and
use at their discretion.