Lack of cameras in Mossos pushes agents to record videos on their own

This Ministry of Interior For years Mossos d’Esquadra has been working to equip its agents with one-man cameras that allow the most complex actions to be recorded. But he hasn’t yet. In a context where any action by the police can be recorded by citizens’ cell phones – and then these videos can also be posted on social networks, sometimes fragmented and decontextualized, driving the police into public trials that could result in real cases. – More Catalan police officers making decisions while waiting for the Ministry of Interior save images by yourself according to sources cited by EL PERIÓDICO, a newspaper belonging to the same publishing group as this media. They are not a majority, but they do start a thorny debate.

“They take GoPro cameras and they’re looking for as little life as they can”, detailed police sources. mobile phone and they secretly put it in the pocket of the uniform”, adding others. home systems The Ministry of Interior sources consulted by this newspaper, which replaces the absence of official cameras, refuse to criticize, although they think that the most appropriate thing is to make these recordings with all assurances. The City Guard, for example, deployed one-man cameras to record the complex actions and drafted a protocol yesterday, as highlighted at a press conference on Monday. Albert Batllehead of security Barcelona city hallguarantees that its use will not be generalized, reserved for complex actions, and that agents cannot access video files. Files recorded by Urbana cameras are encrypted and cannot be manipulated by the police, thus protecting the chain of custody as they are graphic documents that could be part of a case or an internal affairs file for a misconduct case.

Something very similar happens with the footage Mossos captures with cameras very similar to Urbana’s, but when they use their Taser electric gun. but with Images taken by some agents of the Catalan body themselves in the interventions they feel exposed, no. So this is an irregular practice that can cause internal problems. In this latter case, police officers have access to the images and also without any collection protocol stipulating, among other things, that the citizen be informed if they are being recorded.

we have a budget We believe Mossos is a useful tool to get a video camera and we are already testing to decide which model and how to implement it,” they warn.

Refraining from criticizing this self-government and reminding that they have been calling on the Ministry for several years, Catalan police unions say, “Agents prefer to expose themselves to prosecution rather than blow their asses off in a case.” The Barcelona City Council has announced that it will do the same as it did yesterday.

Shock gun cameras

“For years we were promised disposable cameras that had nothing to do with pistols,” he recalls. Nacho Alvarezspokesperson Union of Mossos d’Esquadra (SME). “There is nothing that gives an agent more legal certainty than a videotape,” the spokesperson said. SAP-Fepol, Toni Castejon. “We have nothing to hide,” he says. And it shows the truth, Castejón continues, citing cases of European police officers equipping their officers with these cameras, saying that “incidents of assault on police officers” as well as “instances of police misconduct” fell when officers had these devices.

“It’s an essential tool,” he adds. David Michaelspokesperson Police Corps of Catalonia (SPC). “We now celebrate the City Guard having it too, but why don’t we understand that Batlle, who is also the ruler of Mossos, when we’ve already requested them? did not see fit to buy them and now yes.” “The news yesterday is another police officer who also outperformed Mossos in providing cameras to his agents,” he complains. Albert Palacespokesperson USPACIf the Catalan agency has agents who have chosen self-government, it is because “justice” has already shown in recent cases that it “accepts these records” in a case that agents may face. long years in prison.

An attack on privacy?

Sea Aguilera is a teacher constitutional right between University of Barcelona (UB) and warns of the dangers of such self-management if carried out in a generalized manner and without appropriate measures. “Cops with cameras can claim an attack on people’s privacy,” he justifies. He insists that this resource should be used proportionately as it violates fundamental rights. The teacher gives this warning despite realizing that a police officer may feel helpless when citizens record their actions on the street. But they must be aware that they are working in a public capacity and therefore must be observed,” he recalls.

Source: Informacion

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