More than 70 Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers watched body-worn video footage of a drugs arrest for “entertainment and fun”, an investigation has found.

The footage was accessed mostly “for no legitimate purpose” at 20 police stations on 248 occasions between 2019 and 2022, including one officer viewing it 21 times.

The Police Ombudsman said “management actions” had been taken against 74 officers, which are intended to improve their conduct.

The PSNI said it accepted three of the recommendations made by the Police Ombudsman and introduced additional safeguards in relation to body warning videos.

Another officer is the subject of an ongoing investigation into potential criminality in relation to accessing the material.

The footage showed a person arrested for possession of illegal drugs.

“Lack of Awareness”

During the incident, the arresting officer made an error in administering a criminal caution, “causing a colleague to laugh in the background”.

The chief executive of the Office of the Police Ombudsman, Hugh Hume, said: “The video may have been viewed for entertainment and amusement, but the officers who did so showed little regard for the privacy of the man arrested nor for their emotional well-being . colleague featured in the video.”

The issue arose during a separate investigation.

“The responses received from officers when asked to provide reasons for accessing the video suggested an apparent lack of awareness that this could constitute a criminal offense or misconduct,” Mr Hume said.

“A number of officers have indicated in their responses that, following the investigation, they have refreshed their knowledge of the PSNI’s guidance on body-worn video, which I welcome.”

“Significant residual risk”

He said the “management action” approach was “a reasonable and proportionate outcome”.

The PSNI has accepted a number of recommendations aimed at tackling the misuse of body-worn video.

However, it rejected a suggested sampling exercise – a random review – “to assess the extent of unauthorized access to the body-worn video system”.

The PSNI said it had introduced dip sampling by line managers as well as independent scrutiny through the newly established Service Accountability Panel, which it was pleased had “achieved the same end result”.

“Given the weaknesses in controlling access to body-worn video, we believe there remains a significant residual risk that private and personal data may be accessed without a legitimate police purpose,” Mr Hume said.

He added that the ombudsman’s findings had been forwarded to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Deputy Chief Constable Chris Todd said the PSNI had put a number of measures in place to “ensure officers are aware of their responsibilities in relation to the legal requirements relating to the acceptable use and data protection implications of viewing body worn images “.

“Following the outcome of the Police Ombudsman’s investigation, the police service has implemented appropriate management action and will continue to maintain its procedures and policies regarding access to body-worn video,” he said.