The Public Security Secretariat (SSP) of Bahia announced this Tuesday (7) the beginning of the implementation of operational body cameras (CCOs) in the uniforms of security forces agents in Bahia. In this first phase, 448 cameras will be used in Independent Military Police Companies (CIPM) located in the neighborhoods of Pirajá (152 cameras), Tancredo Neves (152) and Liberdade (144), in Salvador.
The announcement was made at a press conference with the participation of the Secretary of Public Security, Marcelo Werner, accompanied by the secretaries of Justice and Human Rights, Felipe Freitas, and the Secretary of Promotion of Racial Equality, Ângela Guimarães. The use of body cameras by state security agents was a campaign promise by the current state governor, Jerônimo Rodrigues (PT).
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At the press conference, the SSP informed that, currently, the state has 1,300 cameras, 200 of which are provided by the Ministry of Justice and 1,100 leased by the state government. Also according to the secretariat, the neighborhoods chosen to begin implementation would have been established based on a technical criterion, which used the parameter of units with the highest number of emergency services in the capital.
“The cameras come with a view to transparency in police action, to protect the police officer and the citizen, that is, the community as a whole. It is a working instrument, a tool that can even be used as a means of evidence, also avoiding accusations, false reports, and clarifying any type of situation involving that police process. So, more than anything, body cameras are protection, security and transparency for the police officer and the population”, said Marcelo Werner at the press conference.
Bahia is the state with the highest rate of people killed by police officers in the country / Thuane Maria/GOVBA
The implementation of the cameras will be gradual and, in other phases, will also include the Civil and Technical Police, in addition to the Military Fire Department. The Bahian project is the first in the country to implement body cameras in all security forces.
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Police violence
According to the Ministry of Justice, in 2023, Bahia accumulated a total of 1,701 deaths caused by police officers. An increase of around 15% compared to the previous year.
According to data from the Public Security Yearbook, in 2022, Bahia was the Brazilian state with the highest rate of people killed by police officers, being responsible for 22.77% of the country’s police fatalities. Bahia is also home to 11 of the 20 cities considered the most violent in the country.
The Brazilian Public Security Forum, responsible for publishing the yearbook, highlights in the research that, across the country, 76.9% of victims of police actions are black, almost always men (91.4%) aged between 12 and 29. years (50.2%).
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Use of equipment
In the guidelines for using the equipment, there are two types of image recording: routine video, which consists of a continuous and uninterrupted audiovisual record; and the highlighted recording, which is the audiovisual record produced by mechanical and intentional activation of the camera recording, temporally marking the beginning and end of the record.
The use of body cameras by state security agents was a campaign promise by Jerônimo Rodrigues (PT) / Thuane Maria/GOVBA
In March of this year, ordinances dealing with the governance model for the use of body cameras and management of audiovisual records were published in the Official State Gazette (DOE). The records management regulations establish the situations and purposes for which images can be made available and shared. The regulations provide that access to records will be authorized by court order, or by reasoned request to the Public Security Secretariat.
At the press conference, the general commander of the PM, Paulo Coutinho, stated that the use of the equipment will bring more transparency for state agents and society in general. “We are very welcoming [o uso das câmaras corporais]for trusting our troops and for the level of professionalism, which will prove the daily service provided by the Military Police of Bahia as a great asset of our state”, he assessed.
Source: BdF Bahia
Editing: Gabriela Amorim
