Rep. Recto seeks mandatory body cameras for cops

BATANGAS Rep. Ralph Recto wants members of the police to have mandatory body cameras in drug busts.

He said policemen in buy-bust operations must be made to wear body cameras so that a video recording of the operation could aid in prosecuting suspects, commend deserving officers, and deter those caught and their coddlers from “bribing their way to freedom.”

He said “a widely available and affordable device which is the camera” can preserve “a hard to refute documentation” of drug arrests.

“Whether the narcotics seized weigh one kilo or one ton, a video recording is the best receipt there is,” he said, adding that patrol cars must also have dash cams.

In piecing together an operation, authorities must not rely on lamppost CCTVs, and instead source the footage from the equipment they carry before, during, and after the operation.”

The presence of bodycams would serve as a deterrent against any attempt by suspects and their backers to buy the freedom of the arrested, Recto said.

It is an “anti-arbor,” he added, referring to the street slang of suspects going scot-free after somebody influential intervened for their release.

The Philippine National Police has bodycams in its inventory.

“These should be part of their outfit-of-the-day during operations,” Recto said.

“If it is now the standard operating procedure for police officers and police units to blanket their activities with social media reportage, then why is such an important operation be spared of such coverage?” he asked.

“If the tree-planting and gift-giving of police precincts are on Facebook Live, why not make it on the arrest of lawless elements.”