While it presents some challenges to operate even after training is conducted, Portable Video Recording (PVR) also called body cameras are being used by ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the Region 4B Commander related how the device helped clarify matters in one case where a complaint had been raised.
Several recent police operations have led to serious charges over the conduct of ranks and questions have been raised as to why recourse was not available to the body cameras to establish what had transpired.
Stabroek News recently spoke with a number of senior police officers including divisional commanders who related that all twelve of the policing divisions have body cameras.
Police Commander of Region Three, Assistant Commissioner of Police Mahendra Siwnarine said body cameras are being used mostly by ranks on patrol duties. “We have….They are used by ranks mostly on patrol. Mostly the anti-crime patrol for now,” he said.
Meanwhile, Commander of Region 6, Boodnarine Persaud said every police station in the region is equipped with two body cameras.
He said apart from patrol duties, the body cameras are also being used during drug raids in Region 6. “We use them when we going out on raids and patrols. As long as you going and interface with people,” Persaud said.
However, there are not enough body cameras for every rank on duty. As such emphasis is placed on ensuring that at least one rank in the team is outfitted with one.
In March, 2021, Stabroek News was informed that the GPF had 180 body cameras and Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn had said plans were in the pipeline to source another 500 with the funds allocated in the 2021 Budget.
Contacted recently, Benn said the process to expand the body camera programme is ongoing. “Body cameras are being brought in to be put in use,” he said.
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.
Officer-in-charge of the GPF Information Technology (IT) Department, Senior Superintendent Jermaine Johnson, in a previous interview with Stabroek News had said that the cameras were in use by ranks of the traffic department, anti-crime patrols, riot units, in courts and on general duty.
Recently, there have been at least two incidents which sparked public outrage involving the police and civilians. In one instance, the complainant Jaheim Peters sustained burn injuries. The other victim, Quindon Bacchus was allegedly fatally shot by a police officer, who has since been charged with murder.
From all indications, body cameras were not used by the officers who were fingered in these incidents.
Police body cameras provide visual and audio evidence that can independently verify events.
In both cases, the accounts of what transpired given by every party differs. In the interest of transparency, if body cameras were used there would have been video evidence to present.
While it remains unclear why they were not used, Police Commander of Region 4B, Denise Griffith explained that when an operation is to be carried out, it is the call of the officer-in-charge at the time to ensure that at least one rank who will take part is outfitted with the equipment.
Saves them
In a telephone interview with Stabroek News, Griffith said Region 4B which covers the entire East Bank of Demerara has a number of body cameras and she said ranks are often being advised to use them.
“They have been using it. As recent as yesterday (Wednesday), I saw Corporal Sampson with a body cam….Since I came I have been insisting with them to use the body cams,” Griffith said.
Griffith, who once headed Region Two said she employed the same policy whilst there.
She told Stabroek News that she views the body camera as equipment that “saves” police officers and even civilians. “It would save them and to some extent the person,” Griffith said while explaining “let us say the person is making an allegation against them, it would be able to help them. Or, let us say on the other side, they accuse the person of doing something and the other person didn’t know, it would help the person too.”
While body cameras are seen as important in ensuring accountability by police ranks during sensitive operations and for evidential purposes, they are also aimed at reducing certain types of cases, particularly corrupt practices while producing live evidence of day-to-day interactions.
Additionally, they are intended to help ranks with recalling facts and other details captured by the equipment that would accurately recount the chain of events when writing reports.
Just two weeks ago, Griffith said there was an incident involving a civilian and a rank in her division and they had to refer to video evidence from the body camera which was worn by the officer.
“…I had a complaint from a gentleman and I had cause to call the Corporal….The guy send a video to me…when I realize it now, the guy send a part of the video and then when I ask the police if he had it, he said yes. I said ‘bring it’. You could have seen whether the police started before or he started, what was omitted and all of that. So it saves them,” Griffith further explained.
Griffith told Stabroek News that the GPF is “not about secrecy”. She said if ranks who ought to have been using the body cameras fail to do so, they will face the consequences. “If they choose not to use it whatever the consequence is they have to deal with it….If you going on an exercise and something is to occur and you didn’t use the body cam, you got to stand a fault by it because you expected to use it,” she said.
Benn had told this newspaper that the goal is to install cameras at police stations so that the interactions with the police and public can be recorded.
Asked recently about this, he said “the cameras are not as yet installed. I think they would have installed a few of them”.
Such cameras would have been able to resolve the controversy over the incident at the Vigilance lockups where Peters said he was tortured by the police.
Difficulties
While only ranks who are trained are entitled to operate a body camera, a senior police officer told Stabroek News that even after training some ranks experience difficulties in using the equipment while on duty.
“Even though we do training, some of the ranks don’t really understand how to access back the information and those things,” he said.
Some of the challenges faced while using the equipment include insufficient storage capacity and battery power, he said. “We have some problem with accessing it….They got some battery problem and those thing and then the camera only running for a short time,” the source related.
On average, the source explained that a body camera can record up to 45 minutes. “Remember you got more than one duty so you want to turn it on at an appropriate time. You don’t want to use it out,” he said.
He pointed out that the capacity depends on the type of body camera being used. “Some of the cameras have more gigs too…So some you get a longer time to record,” the source stated.
In providing details of the body cameras, Johnson had previously explained that the force has two types namely the Pro-vision and TD TECH.
The Pro-vision, he said, supports up to 256 GBs memory while the TD TECH has a built-in capacity of 32 GB.
According to Johnson, the IT department has the responsibility of copying all recordings from the equipment and storing it in the data centre.
The copy, Johnson said must be verified by the owner of the equipment at the time and made in their presence.
There is a format under which the recordings are stored. The format includes a serial number and the name of the ranks, both who used and copied it. The date and time are also included. After the digital copy of the recording is made, the equipment is then returned to the rank.
