All police to be equipped with body cameras – report
Rollout said set to be completed by mid-2018, after pilot trial led to increased public trust in officers, reduced police violence
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The Israel Police will reportedly equip all of its officers with body cameras in the coming year, after a pilot program showed the devices helped reduce instances of police violence and led to increased public trust toward policing.
In addition to citizens who were polled about the program, the roughly 150 officers who participated in the trial, which began last August and ended in January, also expressed greater satisfaction with their work, the Haaretz daily reported Sunday.
Police said that the pilot was a “game changer,” as it helped to repair the public’s faith in officers, which has waned in recent years. Police stations that participated in the program also saw a decline in the number of citizens’ complaints against officers, the report said.
Police also said that the rollout of the cameras — set to be completed by mid-2018 — would help police counter the growing prevalence of videos of officers on duty filmed by citizens and uploaded to social media, which in a number of cases has led to a public backlash against police.
Despite the largely positive feedback from police and citizens, the program raised a number of concerns among legal sources, namely how to treat evidence gathered by the cameras and in what instances officers should turn off the cameras. Furthermore, police in a number of cases were able to view the footage before it was turned in for evidence, potentially compromising any internal investigation against them, the report said.
The move to put cameras on officers came just a year after footage of police beating up an Ethiopian soldier, apparently unprovoked, sparked mass demonstrations nationwide against police brutality and alleged systemic racism.
Last May, the Israel Police launched an initial investigation into the police beating of an Arab employee of a supermarket in Tel Aviv, an incident that was documented by several eyewitnesses, including with photos and video. Police have said the man, identified as Maysam Abu Alqian, 19, from Hura in the Negev, was resisting arrest and attacked officers after they asked him for identification. Another employee who came to Alqian’s aid was also accused of attacking officers.
The Times of Israel Community.