Considered a successful model, the coverage of the new devices covers around 67.6% of security agents
China’s Ministry of Public Security said on November 18 that it will equip serving police officers with more than 1.3 million of body cameras that fully record operations. The initiative allows the entire police approach and intervention process to be documented visually, from the beginning to the conclusion of the actions.
Body cameras are part of a broader set of measures that the ministry has been promoting to deepen the standardization of law enforcement in China. Implementation covers public security departments at municipal, provincial and national levels.
In terms of comparison, the current coverage in Brazil, according to a national survey by the Ministry of Justice – released in 2023 – showed that more than were in use across the country. According to a PUC-RS study published this year, the number is even lower: there are only 28.868 cameras in use. Here is it (PDF – 218 kB).
The measure already by –as , and , that .
In Brazil, according to the “X-ray of the Public Security Forces” (2023), the Military, Civil and Penal police add up 595,452 professionalswhich, according to the PUC-RS study, are the only ones that use body cameras systematically. In other words, there is equipment for 4,85% of Brazilian agents. Here is it (PDF – 216 kB).
For the Chinese administration, the model is considered a success in reducing crime across the country.
According to , in January this year, there were around 1.92 million members of the People’s Police in the country. Taking into account that Beijing does not publicly disclose how many body cameras were previously implemented, it can be considered that, with the new equipment alone, the coverage of the devices reaches, no minimum, 67.6% of police officers.
There are currently 3,266 law enforcement case management centers in China, with full coverage at the city and county levels. According to the Chinese government, since its implementation, serious law enforcement security incidents have been reduced to zero in several locations, and case handling efficiency in regions such as Jiangsu and Chongqing has increased by more than 30%.
The expectation is that the use of body cameras will help police officers “get used to enforcing the law under camera”. According to the ministry, the objective is for agents to “conscientiously fulfill their duties in accordance with the law.”transforming what could previously have been a problem of “post-rectification” in terms of prevention.
“Public security organs record all law enforcement and case handling fields and links from the case to case completion. All police case information is entered into the law enforcement case information system, forming a traceable tracking and management of the entire process of law enforcement activities and promoting the problem from ‘post-rectification’ to ‘prevention'”, said Chen Min, deputy director of the ministry’s Legal Department.
Authorities describe law enforcement cameras as a “black box” which accurately records police activities on site, placing all procedures under the “spotlight” of standardization.
