Why police force has put body cameras on dogs

A police force has started attaching body cameras to some of their dogs to enable officers to keep better track of their movements.

The devices have been used by Staffordshire Police on three of their firearm support dogs across four incidents since they were introduced.

PC Craig Neeson, who looks after police dog Dan, said there had been "great feedback" so far as it helped officers to see where the animals were "at all times".

"It just gives the handler those vital seconds or minutes to go and locate the dog and see what they're up to," he told BBC Midlands Today.

Neeson said the body cameras, which were the same model used by police officers, were attached to the dogs via a harness.

As well as providing a first-person video feed directly to handlers' mobile devices, they also have a GPS system to pinpoint the dog's location.

"Obviously the dogs are moving fast so we needed to get the camera in a suitable position," he added.

"We've got it right and it's working. We've had some operational success with it."

Asked whether it was safer for both officers and dogs, Neeson said it 100% was, particularly for the dogs.

"We know where the dog is at all times, we know what they're coming up against," he said.

Earlier this year, the force became one of the first in the UK to roll out body armour for police dogs, to give them better protection against knives, bullets, spikes and impact from blunt objects.

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