Nearly a third of all adults now have a smart doorbell and the rapid spread of this technology means the police must adapt to the volume of digital material that the public are now sharing in response to crime and disorder. Policing and Digital Citizen Evidence: Unleashing the potential for public participation, calls for a nationally coordinated approach to harnessing digital evidence shared by members of the public.

The report explores how the use of evidence captured by technologies such as dashcams, smart doorbells, mobile phones, wearable devices and connected home technologies is transforming the relationship between citizens and the police. Not only is it providing new means to investigate many common offences and empowering individuals to help prevent and detect crime, but it is generating a large volume of evidential material for police to manage.

It argues that digital citizen evidence presents a major opportunity to strengthen people’s participation in public safety. However, the report found that the way police handle digital citizen evidence is fragmented, with different practices operating across the country. A successful national approach would enable citizens to share evidence easily and responsibly, improve investigations and prevention, protect privacy and civil liberties, provide meaningful feedback to the public and deliver measurable public safety benefits.