Calls for body cameras

Now more than ever, New Zealand’s frontline police need to be equipped with on-body cameras, a retired police officer and former head of the government’s justice advisory group says.

The cameras would provide independent evidence and work to protect both police and suspects, Chester Borrows said.

Last month three Taranaki police officers entered not guilty pleas to a charge of manslaughter after a man died at the Ha¯ wera station in June 2019.

The charges came nearly one year after the death.

Borrows, a former National MP who lives in Ha¯wera, said body cameras could help speed up such investigations.

A New Zealand Police review of the cameras in 2018 was dropped due to a lack of resources but Borrows said it needed to be looked at again.

He said bystanders were increasingly filming police activities and it was important for police to have their own video to provide context to any incident.

Recently a video of the arrest of

Auckland-man Nikau Andrews brought into question whether the officers involved used excessive force.

The video was shot by a bystander who claimed the police used excessive force on the man because he was Ma¯ ori.

But police said the video did not show the ‘‘context’’ of the situation and that Andrews was resisting officers.

Borrows said a body camera would have provided that context.

‘‘It would be good to have something from the other angle and also they would be running all the time so you would get the whole incident; how it started, not just how it finished,’’ he said.

‘‘And the police are armed with lethal force and Tasers and pepper spray and expandable batons so shouldn’t there be a ramped up responsibility to have independent evidence of what they’re doing?’’

Police Association president Chris Cahill said officers ‘‘don’t have anything to hide’’ and the general view was in support of the cameras.

‘‘Officers need to now accept there’s a good chance anything they do will be filmed,’’ he said.

A body camera would only help provide a clearer picture of a situation.

Having footage of every incident would also work to reduce complaints against police and speed up investigations, he said.

Cahill said police were still trying to get a full understanding of issues that came with the use of the cameras, such as the storage of the footage and who had access to the recordings.

New Plymouth District Council’s (NPDC) parking and animal control officers have been wearing body cameras to help mitigate aggression for the past four years.

NPDC spokesperson Jacqueline Baker said the technology had become an important part of the officers’ uniform.

‘‘The 14 body cameras we have help keep our staff safe, are a record of any issues they may have to deal with and can be used if legal action is required,’’ Baker said.

‘‘[officers] don’t have anything to hide’’.

Chris Cahill

Police Association president