Garda Commissioner Drew Harris admitted that a body worn camera (BWC) system, which is currently being piloted in garda divisions in Dublin and Limerick, is open to potential abuse by rogue gardaí.
Commissioner Harris also warned Garda members that they will face dismissal from the force, and potential criminal prosecution, if they are found to have shared or leaked footage of incidents captured on Garda BWCs.
In a warning to gardaí, Mr Harris said: “An investigating member obviously has to review the footage in terms of (preparing) a file, so if somebody really wants to act outside our rules and instructions and indeed our discipline code, then on their head be it.”
Commissioner Harris said the BWC system is “secure” and cannot be tampered with or altered. However, he admitted that Garda members would have the opportunity to record the footage from a third party screen, such as a mobile phone, and share it with others.
Commissioner Harris said the system had built-in safeguards to try to prevent a garda/civilian from directly recording footage from he BWC, but, he admitted that while the opportunity for someone “to take a recording (of the footage) is exceptionally limited” it is possible.
“They would, in effect, have to be recording it from a screen during a playback session, and that in effect then would be regarded very seriously, a breach of privacy, and in certain circumstances, it would have to be regarded as a complete breach of trust, and, in effect, gross misconduct,” Mr Harris told reporters at a launch of the BWC system in the Limerick Gardaí Division on Thursday.
Commissioner Harris further warned that such a breach “would be dealt with accordingly, and there may well also then be breaches of criminal law as well, we would regard that as a very serious matter”.
The garda chief said, in his opinion, any garda found to have shared BWC footage externally, would be guilty of a “complete breach of trust”.
While the BWC system has yet to be rolled out nationwide, and is currently being piloted to the tune of €3million in Limerick, Dublin and soon to be in Waterford, there have been no incidents of any garda sharing or leaking BWC footage, Mr Harris said.
He said BWCs worn by members attached to Store Street Garda Station were very effective in policing and managing “serious disorder” in Coolock where over 30 persons were arrested following recent rioting.
“Audio” recordings built-in to garda BWCs are as important as video footage as this can also provide gardai with key evidence “as to what’s been said, and the intent of individuals”,” the Garda chief said.
The Commissioner revealed that, gardaí had secured “forty-eight pieces of evidential footage” from a single deployment of members to the recent Coolock riots.
This footage is to be submitted “as part of witness evidence, CCTV evidence” to identify persons “who may have committed offences and will subsequently be reported to the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions)”.
Mr Harris said gardaí have reported to Headquarters that BWCs are also helping members “diffuse situations” as well as providing “very important evidence be it during arrests in terms of drink driving, searches, domestic abuse incidents and incidents of sexual assaults where you are recording the first complaint of the victim”.
Hundreds of pieces of evidence from BWC footage are either awaiting DPP approval or have been used in the courts.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, who also attended the BWC launch in Limerick City, said: “I want every member of An Garda Siochana to have access to body worn cameras - it is absolutely vital to ensure we can, in so far as is possible, keep gardai safe.”
Ms McEntee said gardaí using BWCs in Dublin have reported they “feel more protected” and that the cameras have “deescalated, potentially-dangerous stations”.
The minister revealed that in the month and half since BWCs have been rolled out in Dublin, “body worn camera evidence has been used in court cases where we have had 12 hundred pieces and, in particular, 300 that have been marked as evidence”.
Ms McEntee said she was also, “as a matter of urgency”, intent on publishing legislation, after the Dail summer recess, that would allow gardaí more powers in using “facial recognition technology” which she said, may include linking “retrospective evidence from body worn cameras, to potentially identify suspects”.
This would “free up garda resources” by doing away with the current system trawl through thousands hours of footage on BWCs to identify suspects.
