Imagine a bodycam-wearing policeman apprehending a motorist in a road rage.
All of a sudden, the bodycam started emitting a beeping sound after an automatic access to the database of the Philippine National Police (PNP) disclosed that the motorist is wanted for a case of murder.
This is the kind of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology that PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil wants to integrate in the existing and future acquisition of police body-worn cameras.
“We have bodycams but are integrating AI into them. That’s a new technology that we want because in responding to any incident, bodycams can always be active if they monitor people with warrants. And this means that they can be easily arrested,” said Marbil.
“This is what we want in the future. We will be pursuing this in our next procurement,” he added.
In 2021, the PNP has distributed almost 3,000 body-worn cameras from the P300 million budget allocation of the Congress. They were later distributed to operating units in Metro Manila and other urban areas.
Lawmakers decided to allocate funds for the body-worn cameras at the height of the drug war over allegations of human rights abuses and planting of evidence. More than 6,000 suspected drug users and pushers died from 2016 to the middle part of 2022.
Based on the assessment, the PNP needs at least 40,000 body-worn cameras in order to ensure transparency in all its operations. Last year, the PNP said it is planning to procure 4,000 more body-worn cameras this year.
But Marbil, who vowed to pursue digitalization in the PNP when he assumed the top post, wanted more and this is the part where the use of AI technology and its availability was discussed.
He said he wants to have this kind of technology for the PNP.