The Guyana Police Force recently acquired another 500 body cameras which are being used by ranks during their interactions with citizens.
The recent acquisition is in addition to 200 – 300 of the equipment which were previously procured by the Force. This would mean, the Force now owns some 800 body cameras.
And plans are in the pipeline to purchase more of the equipment.
“The reasons are more and less obvious. We have had situations where there is a questioning about the interaction between the police and the public, there have been questions about professional behaviour or conduct, and there have been a number of assaults of police men and women.
“So it’s a move towards engaging and recording and making sure there is sufficient information to determine one way or the other which is the best approach towards resolving an issue,” Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn told the News Room on Monday.
He was at the time responding to a question asked about the utilisation of the equipment by Police officers during the ministry’s end-of-year press conference held at the Arthur Chung Conference Center.
The directive for ranks to be outfitted with body cameras during their daily operations was first made public by Commissioner of Police, Clifton Hicken, during a meeting with senior officers and the police brass last week.
Police body cameras provide visual and audio evidence that can independently verify events.
Ranks using body cameras are guided by Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) 1- of May 2015.
This sets out guidelines and procedures for the use, management, access, retention and handling of evidence, storage and retrieval of recorded media captured by PVR equipment during the execution of official duties.
Among its purposes, the body cameras can be used to document law enforcement officials’ interactions with victims and witnesses during police-public encounters, arrests and critical incidents.
With the equipment now being a requirement in Police operations, Benn said ranks are being trained on its usage.
