THE Supreme Court approved on Tuesday a proposal requiring judges to compel law enforcers to wear body cameras in the service of search warrants amid allegations of extrajudicial killings (EJKs) during police operations.
In a news statement, the SC-Public Information Office disclosed that the Court, during its regular en banc session, has also considered a proposal to revise its Rules of Criminal Procedure to mandate the use of body cameras for law enforcers who will execute warrants to be issued by the trial courts.
SC spokesman Brian Keith Hosaka said a resolution will be drafted, “which will be further considered soonest.”
“Yes. It means the en banc approved the use of body cameras in the service of warrants but subject to the actual guidelines as may be set in the formal resolution to be issued by the Court,” Hosaka said.
However, Hosaka later clarified that SC was merely considering the use of body cams, and no resolution has been approved yet.
“I would just like to make a clarification that the SC is considering the use of body cams and an actual and formal resolution would first have to be approved by the Court on this matter. So, it would be best for us to wait for this resolution,” the SC spokesman said.
The Court’s resolution was apparently in response to calls from various groups, seeking its action on the series of killings allegedly perpetrated by police officers during service of warrants.
The appeal was made following the death of nine activists and the arrest of several others in the simultaneous police and military operations conducted recently in the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and Rizal (Calabarzon) areas as well as several other alleged EJK incidents.
The wearing of body cameras, according to lawyer Evalyn Ursua, would prevent speculations of summary killings or EJKs against law enforcers in case a shootout transpire during service of warrants and resulted in deaths.
This would also prevent parties from issuing false accusations or accounts of what transpired during the implementation of the warrants, according to the lawyer.
National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) Chairman Neri Colmenares also suggested that if the service of a warrant resulted in a fatality, the SC should get the records of the case from the judge for review.
He added law enforcement officers should be required to submit a report on the facts that led to the death of a person aside from submitting a list of items found or confiscated from the subject of the search warrant.
Image credits: Aerous