Police in Derby are to use 25 new headcams made available to police officers and Police Community Support Officers.
The £130,000 project has been jointly funded by the Home Office, Derby Community Safety Partnership and Derbyshire Constabulary and will police say revolutionise how officers gather and present evidence to the courts.
The head cams work by digitally recording audio and visual footage, capturing events as they happen.
It is anticipated that the use of the head cams by officers patrolling the city centre will have a deterrent effect on violent incidents and cause people to modify their behaviour when they know they are being filmed.
The camera footage will be used as evidence when appropriate. The footage can be produced onto a DVD within minutes and presented to a defendant in custody when an arrest is made.
Officers now have the facility to replay footage to the parents and guardians of anti social youths in appropriate circumstances.
Police say use of the head cams significantly increases the chance of a successful prosecution and increases the rate at which offenders plead guilty at court on their first appearance.
Chief Inspector Graham McLaughlin, who has introduced the new technology to officers, said: "First and foremost it is hoped the cameras will act as a deterrent and ultimately make people visiting the city feel safer.
"The project seeks to improve the quality of evidence available in violent crime offences, especially those linked to the night time economy and particularly in the domestic violence arena.
"The use of the cameras in conjunction with the purpose built back office facility will reduce the time officers have to spend on paperwork, which allows them to return to front line quicker.
"Those individuals who do commit offences will be captured on film and it will be used as unequivocal evidence against them. We hope to increase the number of head cameras available to officers in Derby and see this becoming a permanent tool for our everyday patrol duties.
