WA police officers will start using body-worn video cameras early next year after Commissioner Chris Dawson decided not to wait for State Government funding for the technology.

“Body-worn cameras are now commonly used in other policing jurisdictions, with potential benefits including improved evidence gathering and a greater opportunity to capture the whole of an incident rather than rely on piecemeal recordings,” Mr Dawson said.

“I’m seeing . . . the really important need not to wait further for another budget cycle. I’ve made the decision to go ahead with that now within our existing budget.”

Mr Dawson said he regarded equipping frontline officers with cameras as a priority because the public was increasingly filming incidents involving police, but did not always record everything that happened.

That could include the lead-up to incidents where police used force to make an arrest.

“I’m not saying this as a means to suggest that people are not allowed to record,” Mr Dawson said. “They are allowed to record in public, but if you’re only capturing half of the event, then it’s less than ideal.

“If you haven’t got that digitally recorded, you then rely on testimony and it’s not corroborated.

“For the courts and for both public confidence and indeed for accountability of all persons, including police officers, my strong view is that should be recorded.”

The cameras will not record constantly during an officer’s shift but they will be required to use them when attending incidents such as family violence complaints and situations involving a use of force.

A WA Police spokesman said they would seek technology that would automatically activate the cameras when officers were about to use a weapon as well as back-capture at least 30 seconds of vision before the record button is activated.

Officers will not be able to alter or delete vision.

The spokesman said all recordings would be governed by strict auditing and security measures.

A 2016 trial of the technology involving more than 500 WA officers failed to reduce assaults on police or increase the rate of guilty pleas or convictions.

However, a review of the pilot noted that many of the cases had not yet been to court.

The cameras are used by officers in the US and Britain as well as most Australian States and Territories and police say their use has reduced poor behaviour by the public and officers as well as captured better evidence for prosecutions.

An Australian Institute of Criminology survey of adult detainees at police lock-ups - including Perth - released last year 2017 found 80 per cent thought the cameras were a good idea because they would provide a more accurate record of events, protect both the public and police and improve accountability and fairness

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The WA Police Union has been calling for the cameras.

Mr Dawson hopes to equip officers in the Perth police district, traffic enforcement group and some country areas within seven months, with other areas to follow.