CCTV and Phone Camera Policy

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.041158

I note you seek access to the following information:

Can you please confirm if the Met Police has a policy for when they receive third party recordings about crime, could you confirm what tests are carried out on the recordings to see if they have been altered or manipulated in anyway.

Could you kindly provide a copy of the policy.

If I was to upload a video taken from my phone , dashcam or camera on my cycle helmet could you explain the process used to confirm the recording is a true recording and not altered in any way.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Can you please confirm if the Met Police has a policy for when they receive third party recordings about crime, could you confirm what tests are carried out on the recordings to see if they have been altered or manipulated in anyway.

Third party recordings are generally not accepted as the third party is not the witness, however each case is taken on its own merit and if footage was received of an incident that does not require the person affected as a witness we would proceed. The Public Reporting Team do not accept any edited footage. When members of the public submits footage of the incident they also complete and submit a statement of witness to support their footage. On the Witness Statement submitted by the reporter, the report specifically asks if “the footage they are submitting has been digitally altered or enhanced in any way”. If the response was “yes” we would not proceed with the case. This is part of the evidence submitted with the footage for cases that proceed to a disposal option.

Could you kindly provide a copy of the policy.

At the present time we do not have a SOP. We are in the process of updating our SOPs and this will be included.

If I was to upload a video taken from my phone, dashcam or camera on my cycle helmet could you explain the process used to confirm the recording is a true recording and not altered in any way.

All cases viewed are subjective to what the viewer sees, however all staff on the Public Reporting Team have completed extensive training and completed the recommended training on CCTV level one.