The recent events on New Year’s Eve in Berlin and other German cities have once again shown that the potential for aggression and violence in society has increased. The extent of the riots and the anger of the perpetrators have shaken the population and are leading to louder calls for security forces to be equipped with body cameras. Police, fire brigade and rescue service personnel, who make an important contribution to society, are increasingly becoming victims themselves and are unable to carry out their work due to attacks. Therefore, the steadily increasing unrest – including that on New Year’s Eve – affects each and every one of us.
How can emergency and rescue services protect themselves from violent attacks? Body-Cams have a proven de-escalating effect and prevent conflicts from escalating in many situations. On New Year’s Eve, however, the intensity of the riots clearly showed that de-escalating the situation was not possible: the perpetrators deliberately sought to attack emergency and rescue services. On other days of the year, too, emergency services are increasingly exposed to attacks by violent individuals, especially when alcohol and drugs are involved and the attackers are no longer able to think rationally.
In such cases, body cameras serve to preserve evidence for criminal prosecution: the recorded assaults on emergency services personnel are admissible in court and can be used to document the crime and any accompanying damage to property, as well as to better identify the perpetrators. ## What other positive effects do body cameras have?
The use of body-cams not only provides increased protection for emergency services personnel, but can also give victims of violent assaults a greater sense of security in their everyday lives. In addition, the cameras can counteract the increasing disrespect towards security personnel and also serve as a deterrent to perpetrators. Body-Cams thus make the everyday life of security personnel safer and less violent.