News

Dunedin Parking Officers Equipped with Reveal Body Cameras

12-04-2017

This article was originally posted online at Otago Daily Times, you can read the full article here.

Source: Otago Daily Times

Parking officers in Dunedin, New Zealand, have been equipped with Reveal body cameras, as of April 2017.

Dunedin City Council published a statement on their website confirming the use of body cameras within their parking enforcement sector. They follow in the footsteps of Tauranga City Council, who announced a roll-out of Reveal body cameras last month.

The council’s primary goal with the introduction of body cameras is to protect parking officers from abuse and increase their wellbeing at work.

Team Leader Compliance, Animal and Parking Services Peter Hanlin said: “The purpose of the cameras is to improve safety for staff. Our parking officers do a great job in sometimes challenging circumstances.”

The parking officers will wear distinct badges to notify the public that they are equipped with audio-visual equipment.

“Generally the camera is inactive, and hopefully it doesn’t need to be turned on often, but if an officer feels they may be at risk of physical or verbal abuse they will activate the camera to record the incident,” continued Hanlin.

Bevan Mears, who has been a parking officer for Dunedin City Council for 12 years, said that he regularly faced verbal abuse. He also said that the body cameras would remove doubt about situations and make his job safer.

To find out more about body worn video, please click here.