So when will cops don RM30m bodycams? Kepong MP asks after UM student’s court discharge over controversial recording of police raid
Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng when will local police on duty be wearing body cameras that were reported to have been procured for RM30 million in Budget 2023 last year. — Picture by Azneal Ishak
Friday, 06 Oct 2023 3:37 PM MYT
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 — Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng wants to know when local police on duty will be wearing body cameras that were reported to have been procured for RM30 million in Budget 2023 last year.
The DAP federal lawmaker questioned the effect of the delay after linking it to a recent court case involving a former university student union president who was charged over a live video recording of a police raid three years ago.
“I would also like to remind the government that it allocated a budget of RM30 million this year to procure 2,100 body cameras to be worn by police officers on duty.
“When will this matter be implemented?” he asked in a statement today.
He noted that Wong Yan Ke, a former president of the Universiti Malaya Association of New Youth (Umany), was granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) by the Magistrate’s Court yesterday over his disobedience of an order to stop filming a November 2020 police search of a house in which another undergraduate lived in back then.
The police search was conducted during an investigation of an article published by Umany related to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's role in national affairs on its Facebook page, which the student union later retracted.
Wong had originally been charged with obstructing a police officer under Section 186 of the Penal Code, which was later revised to Section 188 of the Penal Code, which makes it an offence for anyone who disobeys an order from a public officer on duty.
A DNAA means he can be charged again in court.
Lim, who is also a lawyer, noted that the DNAA was issued because five police officers who were to serve as witnesses had failed to turn up in court for the trial.
He said the police need to provide a public explanation of several matters; one of which is the failure of its five officers to attend the trial as witnesses, which he branded as very irresponsible.
“Secondly, what’s the reason to forbid a member of the public from recording and taking pictures of the police operations and behaviour?” he asked.
He pointed out that the authorities have set up many closed circuit television cameras in public that record the movements of people in an area and said that there is no reason to prevent anyone from recording a public activity.
“As law enforcement officers entrusted with the genuine duty and responsibility of upholding the country's laws, there should be no difficulty in allowing recordings, unless there are matters that need to be concealed and kept from the public,” he said.
He said the police and other law enforcement agencies need to keep up to date with technological developments and embrace transparency to promote public confidence towards them.
Friday, 06 Oct 2023 3:37 PM MYT
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 — Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng wants to know when local police on duty will be wearing body cameras that were reported to have been procured for RM30 million in Budget 2023 last year.
The DAP federal lawmaker questioned the effect of the delay after linking it to a recent court case involving a former university student union president who was charged over a live video recording of a police raid three years ago.
“I would also like to remind the government that it allocated a budget of RM30 million this year to procure 2,100 body cameras to be worn by police officers on duty.
“When will this matter be implemented?” he asked in a statement today.
He noted that Wong Yan Ke, a former president of the Universiti Malaya Association of New Youth (Umany), was granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) by the Magistrate’s Court yesterday over his disobedience of an order to stop filming a November 2020 police search of a house in which another undergraduate lived in back then.
The police search was conducted during an investigation of an article published by Umany related to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's role in national affairs on its Facebook page, which the student union later retracted.
Wong had originally been charged with obstructing a police officer under Section 186 of the Penal Code, which was later revised to Section 188 of the Penal Code, which makes it an offence for anyone who disobeys an order from a public officer on duty.
A DNAA means he can be charged again in court.
Lim, who is also a lawyer, noted that the DNAA was issued because five police officers who were to serve as witnesses had failed to turn up in court for the trial.
He said the police need to provide a public explanation of several matters; one of which is the failure of its five officers to attend the trial as witnesses, which he branded as very irresponsible.
“Secondly, what’s the reason to forbid a member of the public from recording and taking pictures of the police operations and behaviour?” he asked.
He pointed out that the authorities have set up many closed circuit television cameras in public that record the movements of people in an area and said that there is no reason to prevent anyone from recording a public activity.
“As law enforcement officers entrusted with the genuine duty and responsibility of upholding the country's laws, there should be no difficulty in allowing recordings, unless there are matters that need to be concealed and kept from the public,” he said.
He said the police and other law enforcement agencies need to keep up to date with technological developments and embrace transparency to promote public confidence towards them.
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