Shortly after the start of the test phase Body-Cam Pilot at the City of Cologne (netco.de), the City of Cologne is already giving body cams a positive review: The public order office’s field staff benefited from the use of the cameras, especially during the carnival days. The front screen of the cameras tested – including the NetCo body cam – had a particularly de-escalating effect on the revellers: “Wearing the body cam with a front screen meant that those involved adjusted their behaviour and became more cooperative,” announced a spokeswoman for the city of Cologne shortly after Carnival (source: New devices in use: Body cam helped Cologne public order office during Carnival in its efforts to deal with hooligans (msn.com)).
During the carnival days, the area of operation for the body-cams was expanded: whereas the cameras are normally only used around the cathedral/main railway station and the old town, field staff now also wore body-cams in the Zülpich district in order to be able to de-escalate conflicts and protect other revellers.
The body-cams will also be in use during the carnival days – not only in the cathedral area, but at all “hot spots” in the city. The pilot phase will last a total of six months. In addition to the NetCo body-cam, other models will also be tested. After the test phase and a subsequent evaluation, a decision will be made as to whether the body cam will continue to be used by the field staff of Cologne’s public order office.
The city of Cologne attaches great importance to a well-designed technical infrastructure. The ability to store recorded body cam data in the municipal IT network is important in order to avoid security gaps. ## Only a few body cam deployments during Carnival During the test period to date, body cam recordings have only been made twice – both times during the Cologne Carnival. In three cases, aggressive revellers were warned, but the body cam was not switched on as the situation was de-escalated. In one of the two cases in which the body cam recorded the situation, a heavily intoxicated person was involved in a fight. The camera was switched on after a public order officer was also attacked. The image and audio material from the body camera is now being used as evidence to initiate successful criminal proceedings against the reveller. For data protection reasons, body camera recordings are deleted after a predefined period of time. However, indefinite storage is possible in three cases:
- for the prosecution of criminal offences and administrative offences * for the prevention of danger * at the request of the person filmed, in the event of a desire to review the legality of the body cam recording
In the case of the heavily intoxicated person who attacked the security guard, the body cam recording will also be stored indefinitely for the time being to enable criminal prosecution.
Body cams also helpful at other large events It is not only at the Cologne Carnival that the experience of the public order office shows that body cams are promising in de-escalating conflictual situations. At other large events attended by the public order office and the police, the use of body cams is also beneficial in managing potential conflicts and ensuring public safety.
However, in order to be able to equip additional security personnel, for example from private security companies, with body cameras for large events, a number of data protection hurdles still need to be overcome. NetCo has created a free guide to provide all interested security companies with a detailed overview of all measures for GDPR-compliant body camera use.
Secure free consultation ## Further references: 
Deutsche Bahn Find out more about the use of body cams by security personnel at Deutsche Bahn AG here!
