seriously mack - lets get it in perspective. If I turned up to work with a camera attached to any part of my body, I'd be told to take it off. If a SAMFS or SAPOL member turned up to work with a camera attached to any part of their body - they'd be told to take it off.
SAAS & SAPOL is a slightly differant situation in my opinion.... however i know of a couple of SAMFS empoloyees that do have these at work. And uses it for there own records of the incident.
the biggest issue surrounding this topic is not so much the issue of actually using a camera as opposed to who controls the recorded footage! if the footage of CFS intellectual property and operations is taken whilst in the "employ" (SIC) of SACFS - does not the footage then belong to the CFS?
cant answer that one for you mate... but you only have to look at the "SACFS promotions unit" and the vol mag, to see them actively encouraging photography of incidents and training to be submitted... so i can only presume they back the concept.
but anyway we can both continue to have our own opinions on this, and lets "get it in perspective"... your looking at this from a SAAS point of view, where you are constantly in the face of casualties, up close and personal at every single incident... if you were recording this, or someone was standing there just recording you, then yes... id say there was a problem.
I think the discussion is probably dead, we can all bang on, on both sides of the fence on this one all day if we want too..
at the end of the day though, unless CFS put out information forbidding the use of cameras at incidents, im going to use it at fire incidents to get footage... for both our brigade records, and for use in training. and yes, ill use my own discretion as to when it is appropriate/innapropriate.
[my last input on the topic
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