First body cameras are deployed in the Bahian police

Long awaited by some Bahians, body cameras began to be implemented in the uniforms of the State's military police officers this Tuesday (7). In the first stage, 448 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) will be used by company agents in three neighborhoods in Salvador. According to the Public Security Secretariat of Bahia (SSP-BA), the locations were established based on a technical criterion, which used the parameter of units with the highest number of occurrences.

Called “bodycams”, the devices were distributed to police officers stationed in the neighborhoods of Pirajá (152 cameras), Tancredo Neves (152) and Liberdade (144). The equipment is attached to the uniforms and films police operations.

In total, Bahia has 1,100 cameras contracted through bidding and 200 pieces of equipment donated by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. By the end of the implementation, 3,300 cameras contracted by the State will be implemented.

The implementation of the cameras will be gradual and, in other phases, will also include the Civil and Technical Police, in addition to the Military Fire Department. According to the state government, the Bahian project will be the first in the country to implement body cameras in all security forces.

However, body cameras have already been part of the routine of military police officers in other Brazilian states, since 2023. According to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP), they are: Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Rio Grande do Norte, Roraima and Rondônia.

In the capital of Bahia, the implementation was announced during a press conference with the secretary of SSP-BA, Marcelo Werner, at the Administrative Center of Bahia. The Secretary of Justice and Human Rights, Felipe Freitas, and the Secretary for the Promotion of Racial Equality, Ângela Guimarães, also participated in the press conference.

Werner guaranteed that there was no possibility of editing any images. “When the police officer starts using this protective material, he starts recording uninterruptedly. When finished using it, it is placed on a dock on the charger and, at the same time that equipment is being charged, the images are downloaded and sent to the clouds.”

Also according to the SSP, the cameras benefit the population and also police work, adding more transparency, quality and security to agents, in addition to qualifying criminal investigations. Recordings will only be authorized by court order, or by reasoned request to the Bahia Public Security Secretariat.