Police bodycams may be introduced as early as next month

Police officers will be outfitted with portable cameras on uniforms and tactical gear if a bill on criminality, urgently discussed by the House legal affairs committee on Wednesday, is passed into law next month by the plenum.

Apart from the bodycams, the MPs discussed installing cameras on police patrol cars, in an effort to crack down on crime.

“At a time when organised crime is on the rise, at a time when criminality and delinquency on the streets have taken on uncontrollable proportions, we at the House of Representatives are determined to continue to give the police any tools they need to do their job,” deputy chairwoman of the committee, Disy MP Fotini Trisirdes said.

She added that the committee convened right after receiving the bill, which provides for a clear and strict framework.

“I believe it has many advantages. First of all transparency, control of behaviour on both sides, so that a case can be examined in court in the best possible way, the collection of evidence in such cases, the evaluation of police operations, the safety of our officers and the objective documentation of any alleged offence or crime,” Tsirides said.

Any constitutional hurdles have already been overcome, she said, adding that everyone seemed to be in agreement and things would be moving forward.

Diko MP Panikos Leonidou said this was an important tool for the police in their fight against crime, but raised questions regarding the protection of individual freedoms.

Leonidou said Diko wished for the law to be in line with the Constitution and the EU charter, and to make sure that the police would not be abusing their power.

President of the police association Angelos Nicolaou welcomed the discussion, saying that the cameras would help officers carry out their duties properly and justify their actions later.

The bodycams, he added, would be activated when necessary and a blinking light would alert the people that they are being recorded.

Isotita trade union police branch president Nikos Loizides said the bodycams and patrol car cameras would not be filming continuously and that it was not easy to decide in action when to press the button.

The essence of the issue, he added, was “to make an arrest, record the true facts of an action so that it can be listed as evidence in court”.

He also pointed out that undercover police officers could not have visible bodycams with flashing lights.

“We want a tool that will help the police officers and testimony and not make their job more difficult,” Loizides added.