South Western Railway pushes back against staff abuse with body cam campaign

South Western Railway is taking a firm stance against the abuse of its staff with a new OOH campaign that puts body-worn cameras at the centre of its message: “Body cam footage is evidence. It pays to be kind.”

Developed by independent agency St Luke’s, the campaign uses stark visuals to get its point across.

Shot by photographer Gavin Millar, the posters place offenders in recognisably judicial settings — a holding cell, a police interview room, the dock – with frames of their abusive behaviour, recorded by staff body cams, superimposed across their faces.

The creative strategy leans on recent evidence from a 2024 University of Cambridge study showing that the presence of body-worn cameras can reduce incidents of verbal and physical assault by nearly half. For SWR, this is as much about deterrence as it is about prosecution.

Jane Lupson, Safety and Security Director at South Western Railway, said the campaign reinforces the message that abuse will not be tolerated. “The introduction of body-worn video cameras will help deter anyone thinking of abusing a colleague and help prosecute those who do,” she said.

St Luke’s has previously worked with SWR on campaigns focused on passenger behaviour, including messages around mask-wearing during the pandemic and respect for onboard staff. This latest work continues that theme with a sharper edge, echoing similar public-facing deterrent messaging from TfL and the British Transport Police.

“It’s about respect,” said Richard Denney, Joint Chief Creative Officer at St Luke’s. “If it makes even one person stop, think, and treat someone with a bit more humanity, then it’s done what it needed to do.”

The campaign goes live on 15 September across OOH sites throughout the SWR network, including London and the South West.

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