B.C. RCMP detachments begin rollout of body-worn cameras

The RCMP's body camera program will begin rolling out in B.C. communities Sunday, the police force says, as part of a national program.

Mounties say about 300 cameras — about 10 per cent of the total cameras that will eventually be distributed in B.C. —will be issued to officers in Mission, Tofino, Ucluelet, Cranbrook, Kamloops and Prince George, in that order. Come January, officers in Fort St. John and the surrounding area will also begin wearing the cameras, police say.

Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, commanding officer of the RCMP's E Division in B.C., says the initiative is the "largest and most ambitious rollout of body cameras across the province."

McDonald says calls for body-worn cameras came from "local, regional, Indigenous and provincial leaders to address the overall need to enhance public trust" in policing, and the cameras are part of a national standard for members of the RCMP. 

The police force says the national deployment of body cameras is expected to be completed by the end of next year. 

Reaction from communities

The officer in charge of the RCMP detachment in Mission, B.C., says he's grateful that Mounties in his community will be among the first to wear body cameras to record police interactions with the public. 

Insp. Ted Lewko says 44 cameras will be used by his officers starting next week, and he's "very hopeful" that they will improve officer safety, strengthen trust with the public and help resolve complaints more quickly. 

Mariah Charleson, elected chief of the Hesquiaht First Nation on the west coast of Vancouver Island, says the cameras are a welcome change. She said she's been advocating for them for years. 

"I think that this is a really positive step in the right direction," she said. "This is just going to bring light to how our people are often treated and ignored."

Further north, Debbie Pierre, operations manager for the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs, agreed. Pierre, who is also the cousin of Dale Culver, a 35-year-old Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en man who died in police custody in  2017, said the body cameras will help build trust with police.

"This is excellent news," Pierre said.

But some are concerned about how much the program is going to cost municipalities that pay for RCMP services. 

Kamloops city councillor Katie Neustaeter said as far as she knows, there will be a "significant" impact to the city's budget, but they aren't sure what the exact cost looks like. 

"We often are not given the input or the information that we need when we see these things being downloaded onto municipalities," she said.

The body-worn cameras and Digital Evidence Management Services (DEMS) will cost about $3,000 per user each year, according to the RCMP. When asked how much money municipalities are contributing to the use of the cameras, B.C. RCMP Staff Sgt. Kris Clark told CBC News that "contract partners will only be billed for the service that has been deployed, with the specific number of cameras being dependent on the number of frontline officers in the community."

How they work

Officers will have to be trained on how to operate the cameras before they can wear them, according to the RCMP's operational manual on body-worn cameras.

The cameras are worn on the front of officers' vests.

McDonald said in a statement that the camera is activated when an RCMP officer responds to a call and begins to engage with the person. It has to be activated by the officer to begin recording, he added.

"When possible and when safe to do so, the officer will inform the member of the public when the camera is on," McDonald said.

The cameras will be placed onto a docking station at the detachment at the end of the workday, McDonald said, and footage will be uploaded to a "secure cloud-based server."

According to RCMP policy, the cameras have to be on and recording during service calls, including ongoing crimes and investigations, mental health calls and protest responses.

There are situations where they are not to be used, according to the manual: in spaces where there is a "reasonable expectation of privacy," where electronic explosives may be present or during personal conversations with other members, according to the manual.

The cameras won't be used during strip searches or body cavity searches or in settings with "a high expectation of privacy," such as washrooms, hospitals and treatment centres, said the RCMP.

It's unlikely the public will ever see much of the footage collected by the cameras, though the RCMP has said it might proactively disclose footage from a body-worn camera "where it is in the public interest to do so."