Edinburgh firm Edesix lead the way in body worn police cameras

Edesix MD Richie McBride with Northern Ireland Chief Constable Mark Hamilton

Edinburgh-based Edesix are winning contracts across the globe, and have just secured their latest in Northern Ireland.

The country’s police service has recruited the company to roll out body-worn video technology to officers.

Edesix Ltd aims to help those in public-facing roles improve safety, while producing compelling evidence when needed in courts, with their technology.

Founded in Edinburgh in 2002, the company’s flagship product VideoBadge is a body-worn video system styled as an ID card holder.

Its simple operation and wire-free design makes it extremely versatile and suitable for all types of users and applications.

Edesix designs, develops and manufactures all its hardware and software entirely in the UK.

As well as police forces, their customers include local authority enforcement teams, bailiffs and security personnel.

Commenting after the success of their latest contract with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), Richie McBride, Edesix managing director, said: “The benefits of body worn video technology in policing have been widely recognised.

“Body Worn Video can be used to support the delivery of a transparent, accountable police service, from the perspective of both police officers and of the communities they serve.

“As a result, the technology is being actively used by a number of police services across the world.

“Edesix will be working closely with the PSNI in the coming months to support the introduction of Body Worn Video technology across front-line policing.

“Given the size and scale of this project, and the training that will have to be undertaken by officers prior to using the equipment, the roll-out will be phased over a number of months.”

Edesix seeks growth to meet growing demand

PSNI’s Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton said: “We are always striving to identify new processes to support the delivery of effective front line policing.

“This includes the use of new and emerging technological solutions. In 2014, we piloted the use of Body Worn Video in G District, which was one of our eight policing districts, at that time.

“We were keen to establish what benefits this technology would bring in terms of supporting accountability, improving outcomes for victims of crime and streamlining criminal justice processes to produce speedier justice.

“We also needed to understand the level of technological infrastructure that was required and what changes or upgrades we might have to implement, in order to facilitate the movement of this video footage from one station or location to another.”

He added: “The pilot evidenced how Body Worn Video has the potential to improve the quality of evidence provided by Police officers and thereby increase the proportion of offences brought to justice.

“Video evidence provides a compelling account of activities of suspects and enables the raw emotion and action from a scene to be replayed in the courts in a manner that could never be captured in a witness statement.

“On the basis of the pilot findings, a business case was submitted to the Department of Justice.

“Funding was allocated to roll out Body Worn Video technology across the PSNI. We have now reached the stage where a supplier; Edesix, has been appointed and the technology will be introduced on a phased basis across the organisation.”

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