The Police Department now has 450 body cams - 250 of them area already in use and 200 more will come on stream shortly.
100 were donated today by the Leadership Intervention Unit - with funds from the government. So, it's kind of a left pocket donating to the right pocket but today at the landing over in Belmopan - both recipient and donor said the symbolism is important in a transparency initiative:
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
"This is all geared towards outfitting our specialized units, the MIT, the GI3 and the SPU, which comprise of approximately two hundred officers. These are the officers who go out on raids. These are the officers who engage most with members of the public and so it is very essential that we equip them with body cams, not for their own safety, but as Mr. Dawson mentioned for us to get a full picture, full accountability of each and every scenario when members of the department engage with members of the public."
William Dawson, Chairman, L.I.U.
"We thought that it was necessary, because of the many complaints that comes from citizens and we want to be sure that we understand that it's not all the complaints that are legitimate all the time. We see only piece of the story and it's not fair. We also acknowledge the efforts of the police department to change the way how the public views the department and so to make sure that we get a clear and concise view of the truth, its only necessary that police officers especially the specialized units like the minister mentioned are equip with body cams."
No protocol has been specified for the public to access body cam footage if there is an incident where a citizen feels his or her rights have been violated.
