All special investigating officers (boas) in the municipality of Veendam are equipped with a bodycam.
The municipality has decided to do this because the boas regularly have to deal with both verbal and physical aggression. Experience elsewhere shows that visibly wearing bodycams can prevent aggression.
A bodycam is a camera placed on the clothing. The enforcer indicates in advance to turn on the bodycam. The aim is to nip a threatening situation in the bud. People behave better when a camera is pointed at them.
The bodycam saves the captured images with special software. These can be reviewed in the event of a report or a complaint. The municipality keeps the images for a maximum of four weeks. After that, the images will be removed, unless there is a legal reason not to do so.