Earlier this month police announced they will begin using wearable cameras throughout Finland this spring. Some municipal parking enforcers have, however, been using them for years as Finland introduced the limited use of body cameras in early 2018.
Parking attendants in Vaasa and Jyväskylä have experienced fewer threatening incidents since they began wearing body cameras on their uniforms, city officials told Yle.
Jyväskylä said one in nine of its metre readers wears a bodycam.
"Abusive language and threats [against attendants] have more or less disappeared since we started using the cameras," Timo Lampinen, a lawyer for the city of Jyväskylä said.
Mikkeli and Iisalmi meanwhile told Yle that bodycams had not had a significant impact on motorists’ behaviour. Officials in smaller towns said they faced fewer parking-related issues in general, as their central areas had an abundance of parking space. The pandemic was also causing people to drive and move about less, they said.
Kotka introducing bodycams
The southeastern town of Kotka said it plans to introduce bodycams for its parking enforcement officers this summer in an effort to minimise motorists’ aggressive behaviour.
Last year, Kotka's parking enforcers reported 25 threatening situations, including an incident where an angry motorist attempted to run over one of the city’s parking attendants.
Eija Grönholm, who heads digital services for the city of Kotka, said parking inspectors will be instructed to turn cameras on anytime they suspect a conflict situation. In such cases, inspectors are required to notify the other party that recording is turned on. Grönholm said video footage provides a legal shield for both motorists and inspectors.
"We get the facts. We see what was said and done in a particular situation," she explained.