SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens supports push to change Evidence Act to allow body-worn camera videos to be used in court cases

THE state’s Police Commissioner wants videos recorded by body-worn cameras used as evidence in courts to show the “real harm” done by domestic violence abusers.

A Los Angeles Police officer wearing an on-body camera. Picture: AP

THE state’s Police Commissioner wants videos recorded by body cameras on officers used as evidence in courts to show the “real harm” done by domestic violence abusers.

Commissioner Grant Stevens says SA Police are rolling out the technology this year and officers would likely wear the small cameras to record all of their interactions with the public.

Mr Stevens said he “strongly” supported calls by the state’s Chief Magistrate and MPs to change the law to allow camera footage of abusers or interviews with battered victims to be used as evidence in court.

SA Chief Magistrate Mary-Louise Hribal late last year told Parliament’s Social Development Committee that the Evidence Act should be updated to allow prosecutors to use video interviews with domestic violence victims, taken immediately after an assault, in trials to ensure more abusers were convicted.

Judge Hribal conceded there would be “a lot of pushback” but said it would benefit victims.

Mr Stevens was earlier this year asked his view on the proposal by members of Parliament’s Crime and Public Integrity Policy Committee.

He said he would “strongly support” such a change.

“The benefits around body-worn video in terms of presenting to the court are that the actual circumstances of an incident at the time it occurs, and the real harm that has been committed, can’t be underestimated,” Mr Stevens said.

“It’s a graphic representation of a point in time when an offence was committed, so there are significant opportunities for a court to have a better understanding of exactly what transpired.”

Mr Stevens said police “anticipate delivering” the camera technology to officers this year. “We are yet to finalise our policy position as to whether they will be recording for the full eight hours of an officer’s shift,” he said.

“We want to ensure that we have them activated at the appropriate times, which would be during any interaction with a member of the public, whether they be a victim or an offender or a witness.”

Liberal MP Vincent Tarzia told the committee that figures in the SA Police annual report showed there were 72 murders recorded last financial year, up from 53 in 2013-14.

Mr Tarzia added that reports of violent or sexual assaults were also on the rise.

Mr Stevens said domestic violence-related murders “feature prominently in the statistics”.

He said police officers were “erring on the side of caution and taking action in some (domestic violence-related) cases where they may not have taken action in the past”.