THE COMPARISON OF POLISH AND GERMAN MODELS FOR THE UTILISATION OF POLICE BODY-WORN CAMERAS
THE COMPARISON OF POLISH AND GERMAN MODELS FOR THE UTILISATION OF POLICE BODY-WORN CAMERAS

Summary/Abstract: This paper presents a comparison of the Polish and German models for the utilisation of police body-worn cameras (Polish: kamery nasobne). Three groups of variables were compared: (1) usage policy; (2) situational and social context, and (3) technology. Regarding situational and social context, the circumstances under which body-worn cameras were implemented into police service differed in Poland and Germany. In Poland, the public discourse focused on the use of this technology to reduce the (ab)use of coercive measures by police officers. In Germany, on the other hand, the focus was mainly on the fact that the technology could protect police officers from assaults. Regarding the policy of use and technology, the article compares the models of body-worn camera use in Poland and Germany in the following aspects: the rank and type of legal act (or other document) regulating the use of these devices; the places and areas where events can be recorded; the extent to which events can be recorded by these devices; the retention period of produced recordings; the obligation for an officer to inform a person about the fact of recording an intervention; the integration of these devices and other technologies. German legislation on body-worn cameras is much more detailed than the Polish one in almost every aspect. The Polish legal framework for the use of this technology is, in turn, partly incomplete. The article does not postulate a complete reception of the foreign model into the Polish legal system. However, certain legal solutions could serve as a benchmark or inspiration for the Polish legislator. These could include, e.g., solutions to increase awareness of the fact that police officers use body-worn cameras; to increase the rights of a person who has been recorded with such a camera; to supplement the provisions on the retention period of recordings; to encompass the possibility and potential scope of integrating body-worn cameras with other technologies, such as, for example, automated pattern recognition based on artificial intelligence algorithms. The latter issue remains outside the area of legal regulation in Poland, whereas in Germany, there are some detailed legal solutions in this respect.

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