SOP na sa pulis! SC requires body cameras in serving search, arrest warrants

Law enforcement officers face contempt of court if they fail to properly use body-worn cameras during the serving of search and arrest warrants.

The Supreme Court (SC) placed this provision in its “Rules on the Use of Body-Worn Cameras in the Execution of Warrants,” which will take effect 15 days after publication.

Under the rules which was made public Friday (July 9), failure to observe rules in serving arrest warrants “shall not render the arrest unlawful or render the evidence obtained inadmissible” and the facts concerning the arrest “may be proved by the testimonies of the arresting officers, the person arrested, and other witnesses to the arrest.”

“However, a law enforcement officer who fails, without reasonable grounds, to use body-worn cameras or alternative recording devices, or intentionally interferes with the body-worn cameras’ ability to accurately capture audio and video recording of the arrest, or otherwise manipulates such recording during or after the arrest may be liable for contempt of court,” it stated.

“Liability for contempt of court shall not apply if the body-worn cameras were not activated due to their malfunction and the law enforcement officers were not aware of the malfunction prior to the incident or when allowed under Rule 4 Section 10,” it added.

The rules indicated that this is “without prejudice to any administrative, civil, or criminal proceedings that may be initiated against him or her for the same acts or omissions.”

The same rules apply in the service of search warrants.

The rules state that law enforcement can only apply before a court one search warrant based on evidence submitted.

“Multiple search warrant applications based on the same evidence filed in the same court shall be a ground for denial. If already issued, this shall be a ground for the quashal of these warrants,” it read.

The rules provide that law enforcement officers are required to use at least one body-worn cameras or, if there none available, at least two alternative recording devices.

The devices should be used at the start of the serving of the warrants and cannot be turned off until the end of the operation or, if there are arrests made, those arrested have been brought to detention facilities.

Law enforcement officers are also required to submit to the courts that issued the warrants a copy of the recordings.

The SC issued the rules in response to alleged abuses committed by law enforcement officers including extrajudicial killings and the planting of evidence.

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Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)