Last week Wednesday’s operation, which caused the lives of four anti-drug operatives, is a wakeup call for the quick implementation and release of body cameras or body cams for police officers and dashboard cameras in all patrol vehicles.
The Commission supports the purchase and use of body cams for police officers, especially those conducting field operations. The use of body cams will help greatly increase police efforts to ensure transparency and accountability in its operations, particularly at the time when an increasing number of law enforcers are deployed to ensure compliance with community quarantine measure or when the conduct and legality of certain raids, arrests, or other anti-crime activities are called into question.
We welcome the Philippine National Police’s recent pronouncement on the start of body cams roll out for use of certain officers around the Metro. We hope that in the coming months more body-worn cameras will be distributed to members of the police force beyond Metro Manila. In the pursuit of truth and justice, the Commission shall monitor the investigation of the misencounter and we pledge our support to the National Bureau of Investigation for a thorough and impartial probe.