The Police Service of Northern Ireland has taken action against 74 officers over accessing body-worn video footage.
It comes after an investigation by the Police Ombudsman which found they had accessed the footage without a legitimate policing purpose for doing so.
The footage is described as featuring an arrest of a member of the public for possession of illegal drugs, during which the arresting officer made an error while administering a criminal caution, causing a colleague to laugh in the background.
Police Ombudsman investigators found that between December 2019 and November 2022, footage of the incident had been accessed 248 times by 82 police officers and one civilian staff member based at 20 police stations across Northern Ireland.
Most had accessed it once or twice, but many did so more often, including one officer who accessed it 21 times.
Further inquiries established that only five police officers and one civilian staff member had a proper reason for accessing the video.
The Ombudsman investigation concluded that 74 officers had no legitimate reason for doing so. Two officers had since retired and could no longer be held accountable for misconduct.
Another officer remains the subject of a separate and ongoing Police Ombudsman investigation examining potential criminality in relation to accessing the footage.
The issue was described as having come to light during a Police Ombudsman investigation of a separate matter, during which usage of the PSNI’s body-worn video system was examined.
Hugh Hume, chief executive of the Police Ombudsman’s Office, said the footage was viewed for entertainment, but those who did so “showed little regard for the privacy of the man being arrested, nor for the emotional wellbeing of their colleague featured in the video”.
“The responses received from officers, when asked to provide their reasons for accessing the video, suggested an apparent lack of awareness that doing so might constitute a criminal or misconduct offence,” he said.
“A number of officers indicated in their responses that as a result of the investigation by the Police Ombudsman’s Office they had refreshed their knowledge of PSNI guidance regarding body-worn video, which I welcome.”
Mr Hume described the PSNI’s decision to take management action against the 74 officers who accessed the footage without proper reason as a “reasonable and proportionate outcome”.
He also welcomed the PSNI’s acceptance of three Police Ombudsman recommendations to prevent misuse of body-worn video.
However, he expressed concern that the PSNI did not accept a fourth recommendation for a dip sampling exercise “to evaluate the scale of unauthorised access to the body-worn video system”.
He added: “Given the weaknesses in the control of access to body-worn video, it is therefore our view that there remains a significant residual risk that private and personal data can be accessed without a legitimate policing purpose.
“On this occasion the Police Ombudsman has taken the exceptional decision to share these findings with the Information Commissioner’s Office in order that they can consider whether our insights can inform their work.”
PSNI Deputy Chief Constable Chris Todd said: “The Police Service of Northern Ireland expects all employees to behave professionally, ethically and with the utmost integrity at all times, and where it is perceived that conduct falls short of these high standards, it is right that officers should face impartial investigation by the Police Ombudsman’s office.
“The Police Service of Northern Ireland has accepted three of the recommendations made by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland in respect of their investigation in this case.
“The police service has in place a range of measures to ensure officers are aware of their responsibilities regarding the legislative requirements relating to acceptable use and data protection implications of viewing body-worn footage. Anyone requesting access to body-worn footage must provide a ‘reason for access’ which outlines the lawful rationale for reviewing footage.
“We have also recently introduced additional safeguards including regular but proportionate dip sampling by line managers as well as independent scrutiny via our newly-established service accountability panel. We are satisfied that these measures achieve the same end result as that sought by the Ombudsman’s fourth recommendation.
“Following the outcome of the PONI investigation, the police service implemented the appropriate management action and will continue to keep procedures and policies regarding access to body-worn video under continuing review.” — PA