City cops to get bodycam first

CEBU, Philippines —  All police operations, especially drug busts and service of warrants, in Central Visayas will soon be documented using body cameras.

The Police Regional Office-7 recently received 256 body cameras from Camp Crame. These will be issued to the different police stations soon.

"Naa na. Naa na sa atong R4 (logistics division), unya atong i-train atong mga personnel," said PRO-7 chief Police Brigadier General Ronnie Montejo.

Montejo said the city police stations will be prioritized in the distribution of the body cameras. He said the six component cities and three highly urbanized cities will be the priority areas in Cebu, Tagbilaran City in Bohol and six cities in Negros Oriental.

Montejo said the training of personnel who will be assigned to use the body cameras is expected to begin this week.

"Supposed to be karon (nga) week magsugod sila. Before ihatag nato dapat mag-train na sila para di masayang, unya makahibaw sila unsaon pag gamit,"said Montejo.

Among the police operations that will be using body-worn cameras include drug buy-bust operations and service of warrant of arrest.

"Pero kay usahay magka sapaw-sapaw man atong operations unya og pananglitan sa usa ka city pila ra ilang body-worn camera, so ang kadto rang magamit og asa ato nga time nga operation," said Montejo.

Earlier, PNP Chief Guillermo Eleazar said that there are still a few guidelines and adjustments that need to be discussed in order to fully implement the use of body cameras during police operations.

Even after the Supreme Court released an order requiring police operatives to wear body cameras during operations, Eleazar said they still need to study the guidelines as these may have ripple effects.

"Ang sinasabi ng iba, ito ba ay malaking epekto ng PNP? Ang epekto nito ay para sa ikabubuti ng lahat. It will change everything, including our training, including the culture of PNP, dahil ito ang nakikita natin na talagang malaking tulong sa atin," said Eleazar. — FPL (FREEMAN)