AG-7 Response Accepted AI-assessed

Recording of Firearms Operations

Recommendation

During post incident proceedings following a police shooting, NPCC should consider the advantages of: Recordings of the communications of firearms commanders and authorised firearms officers (AFOs); And video recordings from the body-worn video cameras of AFOs and police vehicles involved in decisive action.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
By May 2020, body-worn video (BWV) was a requirement for all Armed Response Vehicle officers, and Specialist Firearms Officers used BWV when deployed overtly, with the NPCC having issued guidance to encourage its use in MASTS operations at the point of decisive action (Government Response, May 2020). However, ongoing work to identify BWV options for officers in covert roles, including resolving logistical and legal complexities, was noted with a target of 31 July 2020. No public update confirming the completion of this covert BWV work has been identified since May 2020.
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-2.5-flash on 18 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Response
Accepted
Accepted National Police Chiefs Council
21 May 2020

31. The Government understands that body worn video (BWV) is now a requirement for all Armed Response Vehicle officers. Specialist Firearms Officers use BWV when deployed overtly. NPCC have issued guidance to encourage the use of BWV in MASTS operations at the point of decisive action to all Chief Officers. 32. There is ongoing work to look at BWV options for officers in covert roles which includes consideration of how to resolve some logistical and legal complexities. A project to identify a complementary vehicle-based option is undergoing research and development. The provisional target is to complete work by 31 July 2020.

Read Full Response
Source
Inquiry Anthony Grainger Inquiry
Report The Anthony Grainger Inquiry Report into the Death of Anthony Grainger 11 Jul 2019
View Source
Responsible Bodies
National Police Chiefs Council Primary
Themes & Tags
Incident commander communication training Firearms licence information sharing Emergency responder equipment training Armed Policing Body-Worn Video Transparency Post-Incident
Recommendation age 6.7 yrs
Last formal update 2133 days ago