(June 1, 2017) On May 16, 2017, legislation entered into force in Germany that allows federal police officers to wear bodycams in order to prevent the increasing number of violent attacks against them and to improve the prosecution of crimes in general. The recording devices must be manually started by the police officer and must be announced to the person in question. Recordings will be deleted after 30 days, unless they are needed for the prosecution of a crime. (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Fahndung bei besonderen Gefahrenlagen und zum Schutz von Beamtinnen und Beamten der Bundespolizei durch den Einsatz von mobiler Videotechnik [Act to Improve the Search for Criminals in Cases of Specific Threats and to Protect Federal Police Officers by Using Mobile Video Equipment], May 5, 2017, BUNDESGESETZBLATT [BGBl.] [FEDERAL LAW GAZETTE] I at 1066, BGBl. website.)
In addition, the new Act allows the recording of incoming calls at the field operation bureau of the federal police (id. art. 1 § 27c) and the use of automatic license plate recognition (id. art. 1 § 27b). Automatic license-plate recognition is used in particular to deal with cross-border cases. The provision on automatic license-plate recognition takes into account the requirements set out by the Federal Constitutional Court in its decision of March 11, 2008. The Court held that collecting such data is only constitutional if the plate number is immediately compared to one or more databases of vehicles of interest to law enforcement, remains anonymous, and is immediately deleted without a trace if there is no match. (Bundesverfassungsgericht [BVerfG] [Federal Constitutional Court], docket no. 1 BvR 2074/05, BVerfG website (in German); Press Release No. 27/2008, Statutory Regulations in Hesse and Schleswig-Holstein on Automatic Number Plate Recognition Void (Mar. 11, 2008), BVerfG website.)
Background
In 2016, there were 6,345 more violent attacks in Germany against police officers than the year before, for a total number of 71,795 cases. In particular, the number of dangerous and serious assault cases had risen by 8.8% to 4,431, whereas the number of simple assault cases increased by 13.2% to 16,705 cases. (Bundesinnenministerium [Federal Ministry of the Interior], Bericht zur Polizeilichen Kriminalstatistik 2016 [Report on Police Crime Statistics 2016], p. 37, Federal Ministry of the Interior Website.)
Data from various German states has shown that the use of bodycams results in a reduction of these violent attacks. Furthermore, the video can be used as evidence in court. (Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Verbesserung der Fahndung bei besonderen Gefahrenlagen und zum Schutz von Beamtinnen und Beamten der Bundespolizei durch den Einsatz von mobiler Videotechnik [Draft Act to Improve the Search for Criminals in Cases of Specific Threats and to Protect Federal Police Officers by Using Mobile Video Equipment], Deutscher Bundestag: Drucksachen und Protokolle [BT-Drs.] 18/10939 (Jan. 23, 2017), pp. 1 & 12, German Parliament website.)