Wise move to have cops wear body cams

MADPET (Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture) welcomes the Malaysian government’s decision, as announced by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, that “Policemen and other officers involved in enforcement may soon be equipped with body cameras to increase the level of transparency in law enforcement” (“Cops to start using body cam soon”, The Star, Sept 20; online at bit.ly/star_bodycams).

Madpet is also happy that “the government will allocate RM73mil to install CCTV cameras in all police lockups nationwide”, according to Law Minister Datuk Seri Liew Vui Keong as quoted in The Star (Sept 20; online at bit.ly/ star_cctv).

CCTV cameras will not only combat corruption and other abuses of power but will also enhance the personal security of enforcement officers and improve the administration of justice.

It is important that these body cameras and/or CCTVs have the capability to record and store information so it can be accessed later to be used when needed as evidence in trials and other inquiries, including custody death cases and police shooting incidents involving fatalities.

Records should be stored for at least six years or more if investigations are still open or cases are still in court. Six years is proposed because it is the current limitation for civil suits.

In Hong Kong, a suspect (who may later become the accused) has a right to access recordings from the point of arrest to release, including recordings of any police interrogations and questionings.

Madpet thus urges the government to install CCTVs in all locations in police stations and enforcement offices, including interrogation rooms, and not simply limit them to lock-ups.

CCTV records would have helped solve the mystery behind the 2009 suspicious death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock who was found dead several hours after being interrogated.

The CCTVs and body cams can also be used as evidence that the police had followed the law and standard operating procedures at all times.

The body cams and vehicular cams would really have helped in clearing the police of accusations of extrajudicial killings such as in the recent case when three people were shot dead and the family has questioned the version of events given by the police.

We believe that CCTVs have been installed in some police lockups for some time now but the problem is that they do not have recording capabilities and are mainly used by police personnel to monitor the lockups.

In past inquiries into custody deaths, CCTV evidence could not be adduced because there were no recordings to tender and the monitoring officers allegedly saw nothing. In other cases, the CCTVs were allegedly not working.

As such, what the government also needs to provide for is sufficient monies to ensure that all these CCTVs and vehicular and body cams are maintained well and always functioning.

Without functioning recording and storage capabilities, CCTVs and vehicular and body cams are of little use.