LAUNCH OF FOUR FINGER CAMPAIGN

Bishop Jonathan and others will gather outside Scotland Yard at 4 p.m. on June 1st to launch the www.whennooneswatching.org national four finger campaign.

We are asking people to hold the four fingers of their right hand high, palm facing out, with the thumb tucked across the palm, whenever they encounter the police. The gesture offers an invitation to the police to respond making the same sign back to indicate their agreement.

The four fingers signify the four words, When No One’s Watching and the four aims of the WNOW campaign.

These are:

1. That all police officers must have body-worn video devices switched on while engaged with members of the public.
2. That all police vehicles must have video devices switched on when carrying members of the public.
3.That all custody suites and cells must have video devices switched on when members of the public are present.
4.That all video device content that relates to members of the public must be made available to them on request.

These aims seek to protect the public and the police by providing an independent evidential record upon which all involved can rely.

The campaign is not based on an ‘us and them’ attitude, nor is it against the police, it is against violence and those patterns of behaviour and practices that undermine human dignity and human rights. However, as the police bear statutory power with inadequate monitoring, this poses a more potent threat to the public.

Nevertheless the sign should not be used as an act of aggression. It is a symbol of that which would lead to the highest standards and the most positive relations between the public and the police.