Not up to standard: Frontline cops buying own dash cams for police cars to ‘feel safer’

SA Police officers are purchasing their own dash cams for their police vehicles in a bid to feel safer and keep motorists accountable.

Frontline officers are resorting to buying their own dash cams for use in police vehicles because the technology is not standard in the force’s fleet, it has been revealed.

The Opposition is calling on the state government to step in to fund dash cams in cop cars, while SA Police says officers are already equipped with body-worn cameras, the force will always consider new ways to keep South Australia safe.

A police officer, who spoke to The Advertiser on the condition of anonymity, said a large number of officers were using their own dash cams in police vehicles for their own safety, and to capture proof of offences as they happened.

“A lot of officers are buying their own dash cams – They’re spending their own money on equipment,” they said.

“It makes them feel safer.”

The officer said when body worn cameras were activated – when police interact with members of the public – it had a positive effect on people’s behaviour, and they believed dash cams would have a similar impact.

“We notice a massive improvement in people’s attitudes when they know they’re being recorded,” they said.

The officer said dash cams would also help keep motorists accountable by providing video evidence of traffic offences. They said one of the main reasons traffic offences were dismissed by the court was due to insufficient evidence.

“Just for evidence gathering, for traffic especially, because if an offence happens in front of you, you’ve got it on camera (if you have a dash cam),” they said.

Officers are buying their own dash cams for police vehicles in a bid to feel safer and keep motorists accountable.

Opposition police spokesman Jack Batty described the situation as a “ridiculous” and said officers “deserve the best equipment so they can do their job and keep us safe”.

“Labor’s Police Minister Dan Cregan seemingly expects cops to pop into JB Hi-Fi in their spare time and buy their own dash cams for our police vehicles,” he said.

“Dash cams are a simple safety measure for police – We must do everything possible to protect those that protect us.”

Police Minister Dan Cregan said additional investment to support frontline officers would “continue to be delivered in consultation with South Australia Police, with data storage and security issues raised over this type of technology”.

An SA Police spokesperson said officers within SAPOL were equipped with body-worn cameras to capture public interactions and this footage provided “significant evidence to frontline officers and has significant technology to support its use”.

The spokesperson also said SAPOL and the state government had already invested heavily in the Mobile Workforce Program, which provided mobile devices to officers to give them accurate and relevant information when responding to incidents. This mobile phone technology is currently being rolled out across SA.

“SAPOL will always consider new and innovative ways to keep SA safe and the use of new technology is one of those ways to achieve this,” they said.

Originally published as Not up to standard: Frontline cops buying own dash cams for police cars to ‘feel safer’