Cops start to wear body cameras

Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief General Guillermo Eleazar, shows the Body Worn Camera System (BWCS) during its launching at a press conference on Friday, June 4, 2021, at Camp Crame in Quezon City.
INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines — Three years after they were purchased for P289 million, Police Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, chief of Philippine National Police, said on Friday that security forces have started using body-worn cameras to ensure accountability in its operations.

Eleazar made the announcement only days after a woman was shot dead by a drunk cop in Quezon City and a teenager with disabilities was also killed in a police operation clouded by dubious circumstances in Valenzuela City.

“The [body cameras] will ensure that there would be no breach of standard police procedures and human rights during operations,” Eleazar said, noting that it has been three years since the 2,696 body cameras were bought in 2018.

“It will be a form of protection not only for the public but also for the police officer against malicious and wrong allegations,” the PNP chief said.

The use of body cameras was first proposed in 2017 after three policemen were found to have murdered 17-year-old Kian delos Santos in what the cops claimed was an antidrug operation in Caloocan City.

The PNP vowed to require the use of body cameras amid public outrage but claimed it did not have the funds to purchase the equipment.