[2020 National Audit] Oh Young-hoon "Police 'Body Cam' Only Pilot Operation for 5 Years... Ineffective"

Filming of Police Assaults During Emergencies
100 Police Cameras in Operation... 3,700 Fire Department Cameras

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The police's "wearable police cam" project, commonly known as the "body cam," has been criticized for being ineffective.

According to data submitted by the National Police Agency to Oh Young-hoon, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, a total of 100 "wearable police cams" are currently in use, being piloted at three police stations (Mapo, Yeongdeungpo, Gangnam) under the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

The wearable police cam, which began pilot operation in November 2015, was an initiative aimed at protecting police officers from assault and securing the legitimacy of official duties, with a budget of approximately 780 million KRW invested to date.

However, Representative Oh pointed out that after five years, the pilot operation remains limited to 100 units, and as time passes and equipment ages, some police officers have purchased body cams individually or use their personal mobile phones. In contrast, the National Fire Agency was confirmed to have 3,791 units nationwide as of August this year.

There is also a need to establish related legislation. Currently, aside from the National Police Agency's directive, the "Wearable Police Cam System Operation Rules," there are no other legal regulations regarding the use of body cams such as the "wearable police cam," Representative Oh explained. In this regard, a "Personal Video Information Protection Act" was proposed during the 20th National Assembly but was discarded due to the expiration of the legislative term.

Representative Oh criticized, "The wearable police cam, which has used 800 million KRW of taxpayers' money, has been operated only as a pilot project for five years," adding, "Neglecting the wearable police cam, which can be used as crucial evidence in various situations, for five years is a hypocritical stance by the National Police Agency that only talks about eliminating police officers being assaulted in the field but fails to take real action."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.