POLICE officers began using body cameras during operations on Friday, June 4, 2021, to deter crimes and abuse both by the public and the uniformed personnel.
Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Guillermo Eleazar said only 623 police personnel have been trained to use body cameras, so far. More will undergo training, he added.
The PNP has procured a total of 2,696 units of body cameras. These were distributed to 171 city police stations across the country.
The body cameras will be used for anti-illegal drugs operations, service of search and arrest warrants, hostage rescue operations, high-risk checkpoint/chokepoint operations, security operations during the implementation of decision/orders of the court, quasi-judicial or administrative bodies and security coverage during major events like the State of the Nation Address, elections and festivals.
He said body cameras are capable of recording for eight straight hours, or during the entire shift of a police personnel.
“Only four of the 16 units deployed in each police station have the capability for real-time monitoring to the command center na nasa police stations din while ‘yung iba recording lang, then pagbalik sa police station saka kukuhanin ang mga na-collect na videos,” said Eleazar.
A policeman may switch off the body camera, but the command center is capable of remotely turning this back on. Those who switch off the gadget will be asked to explain.
Eleazar said they were coordinating with the Supreme Court on the use of videos from body cameras as evidence.
The PNP was given a budget for the procurement of body cameras in 2017 following the killing of 17-year-old Kian Loyd delos Santos and 19-year-old Karl Angelo Arnaiz in August 2017 in Caloocan City.
The policemen involved in the two incidents claimed that the teenagers were subject to illegal drugs operations and had resisted arrest.
A Senate investigation, however, established that the two teenagers did not resist arrest. The policemen involved in the two incidents were charged with murder and dismissed from the service. (SunStar Philippines)