Bodycams may help, but

Punjab's decision to equip police with body-worn cameras is a step in the right direction as far as transparency is concerned. The devices are being introduced in 43 cities under their respective Safe City networks. They will include features such as live monitoring and facial recognition, which would improve policing, while also helping reduce police violence and corruption. But the gap between announcement and enforcement is where past reforms have failed. In this case, the danger is that police officials who want to abuse their power can simply turn the cameras off. Even if they are required to be on at all times, police can easily claim operating errors, lack of technical skills, or simple mistakes led to the cameras missing egregious conduct. These are not even novel excuses. Even in countries which tout themselves as being nations where the police are actually accountable, body cameras have an uncanny tendency to turn off at the most inopportune times. Take the US, where a police precinct in the city of Philadelphia reported that only 22% of police interactions that required cameras to be turned on were actually recorded. There are also several cases of police violence and criminal conduct taking place 'off camera'. Failure to address this problem will just worsen conditions for everyone. It is true that having cameras on all the time can be problematic - and infringes on the privacy of police officials and certain members of the public, especially during everyday interactions. But police officials also need to know they must allow themselves to be audited and accept penalties for failing to record relevant interactions. Support cannot be a form of blind faith. Dirty cops need not smash cameras or refuse to wear them. They can simply claim malfunctions, battery problems, or that it was "accidentally" deactivated. For this, the system will need top-notch training and better equipment and resources. If approved and used properly, body-worn cameras could represent a giant leap in the right direction.