PNP chief: Body-worn cameras for police ops to undergo testing this month

The Philippine National Police (PNP) will be testing the body-worn cameras this month before distribution to its personnel, its chief, Police General Camilo Pancratius Cascolan, told senators on Thursday.

"We have more or less 2,600 units [of] body-worn cameras to be delivered... The functional testing and evaluation [is] on October 12, two weeks from now," Cascolan said during a Senate hearing on the PNP's P190.5-billion proposed budget for 2021.

He added that those involved in anti-drug operations will be prioritized in the distribution of the body-worn cameras which had been given around P287 million allocation.

The distribution of these cameras will start after the testing and evaluation is conducted, according to Cascolan.

In December 2019, the PNP said it awarded the bid for the body camera system to a San Juan City-based company.

Vice President Leni Robredo, former co-chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs, underscored the need to purchase body cameras to protect both the cops and the subjects of operations. —KBK, GMA News