Sunset clause, power to President among changes in new bill

Akash Sama­roo

Al­though Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar told Par­lia­ment that of­fi­cers op­er­at­ing in des­ig­nat­ed closed ar­eas “must use” body-worn cam­eras, the Gov­ern­ment’s new­ly in­tro­duced Spe­cial Op­er­a­tions Bill does not make their use manda­to­ry in every cir­cum­stance.

The leg­is­la­tion, pub­lished on­line just hours af­ter the Prime Min­is­ter’s state­ment yes­ter­day, pro­vides that a po­lice of­fi­cer or mem­ber of the De­fence Force “shall, as far as is pos­si­ble hav­ing re­gard to avail­able re­sources, use a body-worn cam­era” while con­duct­ing spe­cial op­er­a­tions in a closed area.