Police, CNB to start recording videos of interviews next year in pilot programme
The statement added that before the pilot is launched, various stakeholders, including the legal community and the Law Society, will be consulted. The statement added that before the pilot is launched, various stakeholders, including the legal community and the Law Society, will be consulted. PHOTO: LIANHE WANBAO
Published Jul 22, 2015, 3:23 pm SGT
Danson Cheong
SINGAPORE - The Police and Central Narcotics Bureau will launch a pilot programme in which officers will record videos of their interviews with suspects. This will be from the first quarter of next year.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a media statement on Wednesday that the pilot will involve "a limited set of offences and allow for an assessment of (its) impact on investigations, its effectiveness in different situations, and the resources required" for a broader implementation of such protocol.
The ministry had been studying the feasibility of recording interviews with the Attorney-General's Chambers, and the Ministry of Law, it said.
The statement added that before the pilot is launched, various stakeholders, including the legal community and the Law Society, will be consulted.
Videos from these interviews will be provided to the law courts.
"This will allow the courts to take the interviewee's demeanour into account in determining the admissibility or weight to be accorded to the interviewee's statement," said the MHA .
Further details about the pilot will be announced later.
