NSW Police signals body-worn cameras change after Four Corners investigation

Changes have been flagged to the way NSW Police officers use body-worn cameras. (Four Corners)

Officers using a police power will be obliged to immediately start recording using body-worn cameras, under operating changes flagged by NSW Police.

It comes after a Four Corners investigation revealed a number of disturbing cases of police brutality since 2020.

The change will bring NSW into line with all other Australian states except for WA, which maintains a discretionary approach to body-worn camera use.

NSW Police has announced it will move to the mandatory use of body-worn video for its thousands of sworn officers in the wake of a Four Corners story revealing allegations of a culture of impunity within the police.

Four Corners revealed a series of disturbing cases of police brutality since 2020 amid a sharp rise in complaints and civil suits over the last decade.

"Last night's episode of Four Corners, which myself and many others obviously watched, was very confronting," Assistant Commissioner Peter Cotter, who is responsible for all NSW Police internal investigations, told 702 ABC Sydney's Craig Reucassel.

Assistant Commissioner Cotter said a review of the standard operating procedures for body-worn video was underway and would lead to change.

He noted the decision had not yet been formally agreed to by the commissioner, but he noted the most important anticipated change.

"When we're going to be using force or using a power, yeah, they [NSW Police Force body-worn cameras] will be switched on and recording," he said.

Assistant Police Commissioner Peter Cotter denies there is a culture of cover-up within NSW Police. (ABC News)

A NSW Police spokesman later confirmed to the ABC that the police would be making the change.

That means whenever an officer uses a police power, from stopping people in the street all the way to the appropriate use of violence, they will be obliged to immediately commence recording.

At the moment the use of body-worn cameras by NSW Police officers has been discretionary, meaning there have been no strict rules about when they should turn it on and individual officers have been able to make their own choices.

A review of the standard operating procedures for body-worn video cameras is already underway. (Four Corners: Sissy Reyes)

As documented in Four Corners, that led officers to not turn on their cameras until after people were arrested, muting their cameras during relevant moments, or simply not carrying a camera at all.

The change will be welcomed by the NSW Police watchdog, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission