POLICE in North Yorkshire must make do with fewer than 40 body-worn cameras - despite new evidence showing their use improves behaviour of officers and the public.

The force has previously said it “only has a small number of devices distributed across the force”. That number was last specified as just 38 last summer, with more than 1,340 officers based in North Yorkshire.

Research announced yesterday from Dr Barak Ariel, a lecturer in experimental criminology at the University of Cambridge, said the use of body-worn cameras (BWCs) changed the behaviour of officers, and the behaviour of the public.

He said there was “no doubt that BWCs increase the transparency of frontline policing”, and “individual officers become more accountable as BWCs accentuate the need for oversight and reflection on their own actions”.

Dr Ariel said both police and the public adjusted their behaviour when they knew their actions, language and behaviour were being recorded.

Where trials took place - with almost 2,000 officers in four UK forces, as well as two US police departments - the study showed complaints by the public against officers fell by 93 per cent over 12 months compared to the previous year.

In December 2014, North Yorkshire Police considered BWCs, but the decision was made not to increase their use.

Assistant Chief Constable Paul Kennedy said the force stood by its decision not to invest further at this point.

He said: “We have not invested in body-worn cameras at this stage. We are intentionally waiting to see how the technology develops for the police service and what the wider implications are.

“In North Yorkshire body-worn cameras have been used to a limited degree in the past, funded by a local partnership, but the wider scale roll-out of cameras is something that we continue to keep under consideration.”

Previously, the force has said Chief Constable Dave Jones and Police and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan “realise this is an important area of policing and that technology needs to be suitable to accommodate any future developments of such devices”, but said it intended to wait for “complete stabilisation of the forces technical infrastructure”, before looking again at introducing more BWCs.

Police and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan said there was “little doubt that body worn cameras are effective in many different ways”, and she was “keen for North Yorkshire Police to use them more widely”.

She said: “To this end, we recently announced a multi-million pound investment in our IT systems. As we move ahead, this money will ensure we are in a position to make best use of technology, including body worn cameras.

“However, it’s important we fully understand the practical implications, such as managing the huge amount of data they generate.In addition, policing technology nationally is moving at a pace and we want learn from the ‘early adopters’ so that we can make the best decisions on behalf of North Yorkshire.”