Why CCTV cameras in police stations would benefit the citizenry as well as cops

When Agnelo Valdaris was about to be administered the "satyasodhhak patta" (leather belts used to beat up those lodged in prison) and other instruments of torture that the Mumbai Police is notorious for, transparency would have been an unalloyed good. But it was conspicuous by its absence, and his corpse in the mortuary was all we were left with. 

On August 13 this year, the Bombay High Court, seething with indignation at Agnelo's murder by the men in khaki at Wadala and Reay Road police stations, directed the Maharashtra Government to immediately install and maintain CCTVs with rotating cameras in every nook and corner of every police station in the state, and keep them running 24x7. For, going by Jefferson's advice, "whenever you do a thing, act as if the entire world were watching" is one of the bulwarks against the impunity of custodial torture. 

A couple of days ago, the Gujarat High Court gave the state government till December 31 to comply with a similar direction. Despite startling facts thrown up by the National Crime Research Bureau (NCRB) data - that between 1999 and 2013 there were 333 custodial deaths in Maharashtra, accounting for 23% of the total number in India; only 45 FIRs, 19 charge sheets and 0 convictions - the government continues to drag its feet and the police seem to be in no hurry to submit themselves to accountability. 

Objective, tamper-proof video evidence indeed brings about a significant modification in the behaviour of everyone concerned. And this intuition has been backed up by psychological studies. This year, the city of Rialto in California conducted a year-long study of on-body recording cameras as an integral part of the uniform of every single policeman, irrespective of the beat. This controlled experiment in a population setting of approximately 100,000 saw a nearly 59% drop in the instances of policemen using force and a nearly 89% decrease in citizens' complaints against police high-handedness. 

And of course, there's Ferguson, Missouri. Michael Brown's shooting, and the nationwide outrage that followed, have prompted the police there to get body-cameras for everyone. 
However, body-cameras are not without their share of concerns, such as privacy (because everyone's movement around the said cop gets recorded). But CCTV cameras in police stations provide no such hurdles and there's evidence to press home their need. In 2008, comprehensive CCTV systems were installed at all Catalonian police stations, and it saw a decrease of 40% in people's complaints of police atrocities. 

In India, it would be wrong to resort to CCTV cameras only as a means to prevent custodial torture, for their effects are far-ranging. With an investigation system which is tottering even in the supposedly best of times, and the proven proclivities of the police in implicating innocents; torture and intimidation are indispensable parts of the modus operandi of arriving at the truth. Then there are magistrates who discharge their duty in the most cavalier of fashions. Consider the case of the accused in the Akshardham blasts, who were acquitted by the Supreme Court earlier this year. The judgement arrives at a clear finding that the magistrate did not bother to find out if the accused were confessing under duress. While recording their statements, despite their repeated pleas, the magistrate refused to take note of tell-tale marks of brutal custodial torture. And, those very statements, sanctified as valid confessions under law, formed the basis of their conviction. 

Agnelo was also threatened not to utter a word about his plight, and this coerced silence cost him his life. 

However, installation of CCTV cameras by themselves won't be the panacea. Who records, stores and accesses the footage is of equally critical importance. There must be protocols is place, which leave no space for any unscrupulous use. 

The police force, which has shown a sustained reluctance to practise transparency, must also realise that CCTV footage would also be immensely beneficial to them, because it would act as a shield against wrongful allegations of torture. In fact, instead of the 'lurking fear of surveillance', CCTV cameras would embolden them to practice good policing, for the people. 

Saurav is associated with Police Reforms Watch, which works with the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative in the fields of good governance and policing. He tweets @SauravDatta29