500 more body cams for cops – Benn

As the Guyana Police Force (GPF) works to improve its capabilities, an additional 500 body cameras were recently purchased for the organisation.
The accusation of these new pieces of tech was highlighted by Home Affairs Minister, Robeson Benn on Monday during his Ministry’s End of Year Press Conference
“So the body cameras, we have brought 500. They are being activated and used, the reasons are more or less obvious, we have had situations where there is a questioning of the interaction between the police and persons and the public, they have been questions of professional behaviour and conduct.”
Just last February a whopping $44.8 billion had been approved for the Ministry of Home Affairs. The sum of $30.3 billion was approved for the GPF of this total $5 billion was set aside for rehabilitation of Police stations, while sums had also been budgeted for the procurement of some 300 body cameras for Police ranks.
With the addition of these new 500 body cameras, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) monitoring capabilities has been improved significantly with the police force now owing some 800 body cameras in total. According to Minister Benn, since the implementation of the new tech among ranks, there has been a decline in cases ranging from police misconduct and ranks being assaulted among other issues.
“There have been a number of them, and these have reduced dramatically over the last year, assault of police men and women. So it’s a move towards engaging and recording and making sure that there is sufficient information to determine which is the best approach towards resolving an issue.”
The Minister highlighted that ranks from the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) and Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) are also being equipped with these devices.
“Yes, they are being trained, in fact both the prison system and the CANU personnel are being outfitted with cameras too.”
Additionally, the Minister also urged members of the public to record police interactions with citizens noting that these footages can contribute to investigations.
“I keep saying too to the public that they have a right too to take out their phone and video tape police or other citizen’s behaviour, it helps a lot.”
Meanwhile, last Friday during an engagement with the officers and ranks of Regional Division Five (Mahaica-Berbice) at the Headquarters in Fort Wellington, West Coast Berbice (WCB), Commissioner of Police, Clifton Hicken issued a strong directive, emphasising that body cameras must always be worn by ranks during vehicle stops.
Only earlier during the week, Hicken sent a stern warning to traffic ranks to desist from stopping motorists without being equipped with their body cameras and more so, cautioned them to stop doing traffic duties and focus more on engaging with members of the public.