Skip to main content

Karachi police to wear body cameras as a step to improve their accountability

KARACHI: Amid growing complaints of abuse of power, ill-practices and corruption in the police, the authorities are set to launch a surveillance project to monitor activities of officers on patrolling duties, snap-checking and those deployed at checkpoints to improve accountability.

According to officials, the proposal to acquire the first consignment of modern cameras had made some progress and the police authorities were in final talks with the National Radio Tele­communication Corporation (NRTC) — the high tech industry engaged in manufacturing of telecommunication equipment in Pakistan. They said that once the deal was finalised, a set of 100 cameras was likely to arrive for the city police within a few weeks to kickstart the first phase of the project.

“Bearable body-worn cameras are often utilised by the law enforcement agencies in several countries to record their interaction with public or gather video evidence at crime scenes,” said a source. “It has been suggested to increase both officer and civilian accountability,” he added.

A set of 100 cameras is likely to arrive for the city police within a few weeks to implement the first phase of the project

“We also witness that sometimes accidental events may have an effect on memory so the cameras also allow video playback in the case of memory loss. A portable network device would also be provided with the camera to ensure network connectivity all the time,” the source said.

He said being an organisation under the Ministry of Defence Production, the NRTC was fully capable to meet the requirement and the launch of the project would be a major value addition to policing in Karachi.

Apart from complaints of deep-rooted bribery culture, abuse of powers and patronisation of criminal activities, the police force in Karachi has been accused of killing people in fake encounters and almost non-existent accountability system in the institution.

Many believe that the initiative to bring policemen who directly interact with the people during execution of different types of duties under direct surveillance may bring some sense of accountability but major improvements will only come with overall reforms in the institution and making it depoliticised.

“The next phase of project is the procurement of gadgets. Initially, it’s been planned only for 100 units in Karachi. According to the plan, the officers posted at different checkposts conducting search operations and duties of special events would be monitored primarily at the command and control centre at the Central Police Office but the access can also be offered at any permanent or temporary operation rooms.”

The proposal is part of a larger project that includes monitoring all police stations, reporting rooms and public dealing rooms in the future through the same technology.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2019



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/2Q3R3XW
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trump says he urged team to ‘slow’ COVID-19 testing

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he was encouraging health officials in his administration to slow down coronavirus testing, arguing that increased tests lead to more cases being discovered. The president has claimed falsely on several occasions that surges of COVID-19 in several states can be explained by greater numbers of diagnostic tests. At his first rally since the outbreak forced nationwide shutdowns in March, Trump told the crowd in Tulsa, Oklahoma that testing was a “double-edged sword.” The United States — which has more deaths and cases than any other country — has carried out more than 25 million coronavirus tests, placing it outside the top 20 countries in the world, per capita. “Here is the bad part: When you do testing to that extent, you are going to find more people, you will find more cases,” Trump argued. “So I said to my people ‘slow the testing down.’ They test and they test.” It was not clear from Trump’s tone if he was playing to the crowd, who ...
Post a Comment
Read more

IT ministry forms panel to review social media rules

ISLAMABAD: While uproar against the new rules to regulate social media continues from various segments of society, including parliamentarians, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and civil society, the information technology ministry on Friday formed a committee to review the rules. The federal cabinet approved the rules on Feb 11, but later after opposition from various quarters, including companies that manage different social media platforms, the prime minister announced that a fresh consultation process would be launched over the Citizens Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules 2020. The committee formed by the IT ministry is headed by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Chairman Amir Azeem Bajwa while its members are Eazaz Aslam Dar, additional secretary of IT; Tania Aidrus, member of the Strategic Reforms Imple­mentation Unit, Prime Minister Office; and Dr Arslan Khalid, focal person on digital media at the PM Office. Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Ma...
Post a Comment
Read more

IS confirms Baghdadi’s death, vows revenge

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.—AP BEIRUT: The Islamic State militant group confirmed the death of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a statement on Thursday and named his replacement as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi. “We mourn you ... commander of the faithful,” said Abu Hamza al-Quraishi — presented as the group’s new spokesman — in an audio statement. Baghdadi, who led IS since 2014 and was the world’s most wanted man, was killed in a US special forces raid in Syria’s province of Idlib on Sunday. The group also confirmed the killing in another raid the following day of the group’s previous spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir. The statement said the group’s legislative and consultative body convened after the 48-year-old Iraqi-born jihadist chief’s death. “The Islamic State shura council convened immediately after confirming the martyrdom of Sheikh Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and the elders of the holy warriors agreed” on a replacement, said the seven-minute message. Little is known abou...
Post a Comment
Read more