All front-line Thunder Bay police officers will soon start wearing body cameras
Matt Vis | CBC News | Posted: April 12, 2021 11:00 AM | Last Updated: April 12, 2021
Cameras recommended in 2018 OIPRD Broken Trust report, but privacy expert has reservations
Thunder Bay police officers are about to start carrying an extra set of eyes on the job.
As many as 25 officers in the northwestern Ontario city will start wearing the body cameras on Monday, the first phase of a full rollout over the coming weeks that will have all 130 front-line primary response and traffic officers with the equipment.
The body cameras are part of a $2.1-million digital evidence management program, following a six-month pilot project that wrapped up two years ago.
"We've seen in the pilot project, on more than one occasion, where somebody was acting violently towards the officers and when they were advised of [the camera], it changed," said Gordon Snyder, a Thunder Bay Police Service staff sergeant who oversaw the pilot project.
"Not only does it add a level, obviously, of transparency and public trust and officer accountability, but it also de-escalates situations simply by having it present."
All officers are expected to wear cameras by June:
- Those in the uniform patrol will wear ones on their chest that will capture what's in front of them.
- Traffic unit officers will continue to wear cameras that can be attached to glasses or headwear, to gather footage from their line of sight, which had been used during the pilot project.
In-car cameras will later be installed in all front-line police vehicles, showing both a forward view from the dash as well as the prisoner holding area in the back.
The footage would be uploaded to a cloud-based storage system that could be used during investigations, as evidence in legal proceedings or to review complaints about officers' conduct.
The recommendation to have body-worn and in-car cameras was made in the 2018 Broken Trust report by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director, which found systemic racism at an institutional level within the police force.
Snyder said while officers had initial apprehension, the cameras are welcomed for the purpose of having recordings of incidents that show officers responded to difficult situations.
"I think it's an important story the officers want to be able to have told from an independent unbiased perspective, being that camera view," he said.
Not a 'silver bullet or magic wand'
Brenda McPhail, director of privacy for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, said while it's a good sign the police service is following through on the recommendation, there should be some caution.
"Too often, they're portrayed as a silver bullet or magic wand that's going to fix issues of police accountability, and they're not," McPhail said.
Policies and procedures governing their use need to be in place, said McPhail, along with a culture within a police force targeted to enhancing transparency and officer accountability.
McPhail said the footage captured by cameras shouldn't be considered as the complete truth.
"The reality is the cameras are going to show the encounter from the spectrum of the officer," she said. "The officer literally controls the camera with how he or she orients their body towards the scene."
McPhail said the police service should track statistics on use of force and complaints against officers, as well as seek public consultation to review the program, using the results to make changes or decide if camera use should continue.