CEBU CITY – Agents of the Land Transportation Office in Central Visayas (LTO-7) will soon be equipped with body-worn cameras when conducting operations.
The ceremonial turnover of 46 units of water-proof cameras equipped with Global Positioning System (GPS) was held on Thursday at the LTO 7 office here.
The procurement of the cameras is part of LTO’s modernization program, said LTO 7 regional director Victor Caindec.
"This is just a layer on top of what is already there," Caindec said.
LTO 7 enforcers are already in the stage of familiarizing the usage of the camera.
“As we do the training, our enforcers need to understand the use and their responsibilities when using the body cameras,” said Caindec.
Videos of the cameras can be streamed on real-time to a server connected to the local LTO-7 office and at the LTO central operations office in Manila.
“If there is no mobile internet available in an area, the video is recorded in its built-in storage cards. If there will be a need to review the video, the recorded file can be accessed,” Caindec.
The body cameras are tamper-proof as only select people from the LTO main office in Manila know the password.
The cameras can no longer be switched off without authorization once worn by LTO agents.
Caindec said the body cameras “work both ways” as it will help when apprehensions are contested or when there will be incidents of enforced being accused of irregularities.
"Apprehensions are presumed regular unless there is contrary evidence. If somebody challenges the apprehension then there are two things that we can use. We can use the evidentiary documents and the body camera, or, we can do it the way before these cameras have been deployed," Caindec said.