Frankston police to don crime-busting cameras in $25k trial

Constable Sharree Cocks wearing one of the trial cameras. Picture: Jason Edwards Source: News Limited

About 20 highway and uniform police in Frankston will don one of 12 cameras over the next three months in the $25,000 trial.

Switched on at police discretion, members of the public must be told when they are being recorded but their permission is not needed.

The footage would be kept for at least seven years.

Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius said the trial was about protecting police.

He said when someone was told they were on camera, it was "amazing how their behaviour changes".

"If you're being told by a police officer that you're being recorded, that should be a bit of a wake-up call to you to stop behaving like an idiot and start behaving like a decent member of the community," he said.

Constable Sharree Cocks and First Constable J. Morel with the cameras. Source: News Limited

He said police officers were already making recordings on their own personal devices, but concerns had been raised over data storage and security.

The trial would allow accountable handling of data.

After the trial, police will decide whether the project should continue or be considered for a wider rollout.

Civil liberties group Liberty Victoria and the Police Association had raised concerns about the trial back in July.

"This is new territory and we've got to look at it closely to strike the right balance," Police Association secretary Greg Davies said at the time.

"We need to work out when they should or shouldn't be used, where the images are stored, how they are maintained and produced in court."

ashley.argoon@news.com.au