THE rise of police wearing concealed video cameras is slashing violent offences in Hampshire, it can be revealed.

Incidents of assault crimes and public order have plummeted by nearly 20 per cent since the county/s officers began wearing Body-Worn Video (BWV) cameras.

That is the findings of research released today by academics from Portsmouth University into the impact of the devices worn on officers' chests.

Hampshire Constabulary is set to equip 500 more frontline officers with BWV cameras over the next three months and 2,800 next year.

It comes after it was the first UK force issuing 160 cameras to frontline officers and PCSOs in the Isle of Wight to trail the devices.

Researchers from the University's Institute of Criminal justice evaluated the scheme - run in partnership with Reveal Media as part of Operation Hyperion.

The report revealed that public order and assault crimes dropped by 18 per cent, from just over 1,700 to 1,400 in the year that police were wearing cameras. It also found that assaults on police went down by a third.

The findings come after Craig Radbourne was jailed for 36 months for attacking police officer Sgt Kerry Lawrence in Basingstoke.

The attack by Radbourne, 25, of Flaxfield Road, Basingstoke, was captured on the officers' BWV camera as he smashed her head on the pavement twice.

Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Simon Hayes praised the scheme and said: “This provides irrefutable evidence and compelling support for the investment I have made in this technology.

“This report identifies clear benefits to victims of crime, plus officers, and should be of some reassurance to society as a whole. In particular, outcomes for victims of domestic abuse on the Island appear to have been significantly improved as a result of evidence captured through BWV.”