SEPANG, Oct 10 — The introduction of body-worn cameras (BWC) among Royal Malaysian Customs Department personnel has led to a nearly 40 per cent decrease in integrity-related complaints, its Director-General Datuk Anis Rizana Mohd Zainudin said today.

Anis Rizana said this drop in complaints to its Integrity Branch showed that there is a significant reduction in abuse of power and corruption cases among the department.

"This BWC is very necessary to protect the officers who carry out operational tasks in the field from accusations, and at the same time it can improve the integrity of the said officers,” she told reporters at a launch ceremony of the camera usage here.

"This BWC can be a fear factor so that there is no abuse of power and misconduct among officers who use it as well as individuals who deal with the department’s operational team. This BWC recording can also be used as evidence if there are any issues arising.”

According to Anis Rizana, there were 13 recorded cases between August 1, 2022 and July 31, 2023, before the implementation of the BWC, but just eight in the same period the year after — a fall of 38.46 per cent.

The implementation of BWCs has become a pivotal measure in bolstering transparency and accountability within the department, and was mandated by the Cabinet in 2019.

Anis Rizana said the Customs Department has acquired 60 BWC units on rent for a period of 36 months, and currently, there are five locations which have been selected for implementation: the Headquarters Enforcement Division (12 units), KLIA Terminal 1 and 2 (24 units), Selangor (12 units) and Johor (12 units).

Equipping Malaysian frontline law enforcers with BWC had been talked about for years as a way to address allegations of brutality and corruption.

In his written reply in October last year, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said that the government had approved an allocation of RM30 million to procure the BWC under the first rolling plan of the 12th Malaysia Plan in 2021 for police use.

The Customs Department later joined the police as one of the enforcement agencies utilising BWC technology.