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Scotland Yard today launched the world’s biggest ever roll-out of body worn video cameras to frontline police officers in London.

Around 22,000 cameras are being issued to all neighbourhood and response officers in the capital at a cost of nearly £10 million.

The first of the cameras were deployed in Lewisham today with further boroughs being issued with the equipment each week.

Once completed next summer the Met will have the largest number of officers equipped with body worn video cameras of any force globally.

The Met hopes the cameras will help restore trust among communities angered by stop and search and events, such as the police shooting of Mark Duggan in 2011.

Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said: “The cameras will support our officers in the many challenging situations they have to deal with, at the same time as building the public’s confidence.

“What we do every day will be seen by the public - that has to be good.”

He was joined at the launch in Lewisham this morning by Mayor Sadiq Khan who said the technology brings the police force “into the 21st century”.

He added: “This will lead to more transparency and accountability. I hope this will lead to the principal of policing by consent being more meaningful. By its nature police need public confidence to move forward.

“The more confidence that the police have from the public, the safer our streets will be.”

The cigarette pack-sized cameras are being issued to London’s 32 boroughs and a number of frontline specialist roles, including overt firearms officers.

However, the cameras are not yet being deployed to covert firearms or surveillance teams because their size could give them away.

Cameras have also been fitted to the Met’s prison vans.

The move follows a trial which saw 550 body cameras used across 10 London boroughs as well as armed response teams.

The Met said the cameras had already proved successful in bringing about speedier justice for victims, and have been particularly successful in domestic abuse cases.

The force said there has been an increase in earlier guilty pleas from offenders who know their actions have been recorded.

A video recording of the arrest of a violent suspect was issued by the Met as part of today’s launch.

Last month, a study by the University of Cambridge found a 93 per cent decrease in complaints made against officers clearly wearing body cameras.

Sir Bernard added: “Our experience of using cameras already shows that people are more likely to plead guilty when they know we have captured the incident on a camera.

"That then speeds up justice, puts offenders behind bars more quickly and most importantly protects potential victims.

“Video captures events in a way that can’t be represented on paper in the same detail, a picture paints a thousand words, and it has been shown the mere presence of this type of video can often defuse potentially violent situations without the need for force to be used.”

“People have pleaded guilty when seeing evidence on film rather than challenging what our officers said happened. It’s powerful because it captures the emotional state of everyone at the scene. It will capture the suspect, the victim or how children appear affected.

This is a vital piece in the chain to make sure what we do is transparent. “

The cameras will be attached to the officer’s uniform and will not be permanently recording.

Police said members of the public will be told as soon as practical that they are being recorded, and when the camera is recording it is highly visible - notable by a flashing red circle in the centre of the camera and a frequent beeping noise when the camera is activated.

Civil liberties groups have raised concerns about the technology, particularly around how it will be kept and how it could be used.

Footage from the Axon cameras will be automatically uploaded to secure servers once the device has been docked, and flagged for use as evidence at court or other proceedings.

Video not retained as evidence or another policing purpose will be automatically deleted within 31 days.

People will be able to apply for any footage of them under freedom of information law.