With 10 votes against and 2 abstentions, the Internal Security and Public Order Committee rejected the “Democratic Bulgaria” Bill on amendments to the Ministry of Interior Act, which introduces mandatory body cameras for police officers. After heavy arguments with the chairman of the committee Manoil Manev and other members from GERB, at the end of the meeting and before the vote, the deputies from PP-DB Ivaylo Mirchev, Atanas Atanasov and Boyko Rashkov left the hall.
The bill by Ivaylo Mirchev and a group of deputies from “Democratic Bulgaria“, submitted in February last year and again last month, received a negative opinion from the Ministry of Interior. And the National Security Service rejected the requirement set out in it and that the service cars drive with video recorders turned on, so that citizens have the certainty that they comply with the rules of the road and that in the event of accidents, the state security guards do not cover up for their colleagues. This was announced before the meeting of the committee by the co-chairman of “Yes, Bulgaria“ Ivaylo Mirchev. According to him, the arguments that the body cameras have already been purchased are not valid, because the regulation under which they are used is clearly not working. He called on his colleagues to be more reasonable, “because human lives are at stake“.
During the blitz control at the beginning of the committee meeting, Interior Minister Daniel Mitov announced that the Ministry of Interior is purchasing 13,400 cameras and video recorders because “transparency is the most important thing for us, so that people on both sides can know what is happening“. He said that modern Tasers (non-lethal electroshock guns) should also be purchased, which do not injure the detainees and provide security for the officers. However, it was not clear how exactly police officers will be required to always wear cameras turned on when they are on duty, because there are currently body cameras, but they are rarely used.
The draft law of the State Duma clearly regulates the mandatory wearing of body cameras by officers performing activities to protect public order and ensure road safety. This would have led to a number of favorable consequences in regulating relations between law enforcement officers and citizens, the explanatory memorandum to the project states.
Ministry of Interior employees will have greater protection against unfounded accusations that they are exceeding their rights, and citizens - against police arbitrariness. This also ensures prevention of arbitrariness and violations of the law - police officers will follow the rules more strictly, and citizens will be deterred from aggression and disobedience. The recordings from the video cameras will be able to serve as evidence in criminal cases, being a valuable tool for the accuracy of the information, especially for verifying the testimonies of witnesses and officers. In addition, the recordings from the body cameras can help to improve police practices, by identifying what additional training the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs need. And through the mobile video surveillance devices equipped with special traffic regime vehicles of the National Police, better control over compliance with the rules by all road users will be ensured.