Police officers in the City of La Paz will be using 139 new body cams in 2023
Milena Quiroga Romero Presidenta Municipal of La Paz
Abuse of authority is in the news across Mexico - But La Paz seeks to provide greater transparency with the use of police body cams
For those less familiar with the Mexican language, "mordida' means "to take a bite" and is the slang term for a bribe on any level. La Paz will implement police body cams in 2023 to increase transparency for the police force in La Paz and will take a bite out of traffic stop bribes.
The city acquired the 139 cameras in 2020 and completed the officers' training in their use in December 2022. The program cost was about $2 million USD, including support equipment and programming.
Abuse of authority by police has become increasingly visible in Mexican national news but has not appeared as an endemic problem here in La Paz. The use of police body cams should provide the public with a greater degree of transparency and supportable evidence and protection for the police. The most common form of "police abuse" in Baja California Sur is the direct, improper, and inflated payment for traffic infractions, or "The Mordida.". The new body cams will hopefully also reduce the abuse of the time clock, with unrelated activities during working hours, and thus provide more rapid and effective police response to all crimes. The body cams should have a significant impact on both issues.
The new body cams are preprogrammed for each user and equipped with a 12hr battery that should provide the wearer with an active camera through a standard shift.
The city purchased the body cams under a previous administration but did not implement their use, and the equipment nearly disappeared into the city warehouse. The new administration put more urgency on the training and implementation and the cams, and they hit the streets with officers in December.
According to the statement by Municipal President (mayor) Milena Quiroga Romero the cameras were released in December 2022 to verify the correct actions of the uniformed officers, as well as detect anomalies in the functions of the elements and record each step taken by the police officers during their working hours.
The city reports that in less than 30 days of use, the cameras have already proved their effectiveness in reducing complaint reports, provided more prompt attention to reports of robberies, assaults, and crimes, provided evidence for dozens of infraction tickets prepared due to road accidents,
Most officers on the La Paz police force also have a QR code on their uniform, which, when scanned, provides the identity information of the officer.
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