Newsroom
The next time you are pulled over, questioned or stopped by a police officer, your conversation could be recorded.
Cyprus police are preparing to use cameras attached to officers’ uniforms and installed in police vehicles. The idea is simple: when there is a disagreement over what happened, there will be footage to help clear things up.
But officers will not be allowed to record everything and everyone throughout their shift.
Under the new law, cameras can be switched on during arrests, searches, police chases, traffic stops and visits to crime scenes. They can also be used during dangerous operations or when an officer is attacked, resisted or prevented from doing their job.
People must be told that they are being recorded. The camera will also display a light when it is operating.
Officers must state the date, time and location after turning the camera on and again before switching it off. They must stop recording once the incident is over. Leaving the camera running without a clear reason is not allowed.
The footage could prove useful when a citizen and an officer give different versions of the same incident. Recordings may be used in criminal, civil or police disciplinary cases, potentially protecting both citizens and officers from false claims.
There are privacy rules, too. Recordings must be encrypted and securely stored, while sensitive parts of the body filmed during a search must be blurred before the footage is viewed.
Video that is not connected to an investigation, court case or complaint must generally be deleted within six months. Anyone who deliberately accesses or shares recordings without permission could face up to three years in prison.
Cameras may also be placed in unmarked police vehicles. However, officers must first make it clear that it is a police vehicle, using a siren, flashing light or another obvious signal.
Body cameras will not capture every detail or automatically settle every argument. But when a routine stop turns into a dispute, the conversation may no longer come down simply to one person’s word against another’s.
