More RCMP in Alberta are wearing body cameras. But do they improve safety?

Alberta RCMP have ramped up the use of body-worn cameras for front-line officers as a push is underway to have 90 per cent of the national police force use the cameras within the coming year. 

Alberta RCMP said the move was part of their "commitment to transparency and accountability."

RCMP provided a demonstration of the cameras to media on Dec. 5 at the Parkland detachment in Spruce Grove.

"Body-worn cameras provide a new opportunity for the Alberta RCMP," said Insp. Kevin McGillivray. 

"The video evidence collected through these devices will provide independent, unbiased and objective interactions between civilians and officers, helping to increase trust between police and the communities that we serve."

But criminal justice and policing experts say the research is contradictory on how effective the cameras are at decreasing, or even increasing, use of force incidents and complaints. 

"As part of a broad range of probable accountability measures, I believe that body-worn cameras have their place," said University of Alberta criminologist Temitope Oriola in an interview with CBC.

"However, it is important to not view body-worn cameras as the solution to all problems in policing."

The national police force first announced its plan to equip between 10,000 and 15,000 officers with body-worn cameras back in 2020, as protests against police brutality took place around the world in the wake of George Floyd's death in police custody in Minneapolis that year.

Public complaints filed against RCMP members have continued to trend upwards over the past five years, according to data from the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP. 

881 public complaints were lodged regarding the on-duty conduct of RCMP members in Alberta between April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024. 

The Alberta government announced in March 2023 that body-worn cameras would become mandatory for all police officers in Alberta. 

Edmonton police started issuing cameras to 280 officers in various units in September as part of a pilot project in July 2023. 

Body-worn cameras became mandatory for Calgary police officers in 2019.

Various detachments will start using the body-worn cameras in January, including: Bonnyville, Chestermere, Cold Lake, Elk Point, Enoch Cree Nation, Fort Saskatchewan, Gleichen, Lac La Biche, Mayerthorpe, Sylvan Lake and Whitecourt.

The cameras have already been used by front-line officers in detachments in Claresholm, Drayton Valley, Evansburg, Fort Macleod, Grande Prairie, Lloydminster, Nanton, Piikani First Nation, Pincher Creek, Sherwood Park, St. Paul and Vulcan.

Differing perceptions on capturing and purpose of footage

Societal expectations and understandings of the usefulness of body-worn footage in Canada is also informed by how proceedings play out in the U.S.

"The research does suggest that for citizens, body-worn cameras are viewed as tools that could protect them from police misbehaviour," Oriola said. 

"On the part of the police officers, interestingly, the belief is that body-worn cameras may be a protective factor from frivolous complaints on the part of citizens, and so you have this asymmetric belief in attitude between officers and citizens about what body-worn cameras can or cannot do." 

Oriola said there also has to be strict policies on when officers are required to turn on their cameras. 

"Whether or not officers are able to habitually turn it off or on. And so if officers can turn it off at will, then the aim is already defeated," Oriola said.

McGillivray said that "every situation is different" but that members are expected to adhere to a policy of recording before arriving at a call for service.

"If it was not turned on purposefully, then they could be subject to a code of conduct investigation," McGillivray said.

Questions about accessing footage, use in court 

A key difference from the U.S. has been the logistics surrounding how accessible it is for the public to obtain footage from cameras and the readiness of that process has been a sticking point in Canada. 

Stricter privacy laws can directly impact if and when a member of the public can gain access to seeing footage of an incident they have been involved in. 

Christopher Schneider, a sociology professor at Brandon University in Manitoba, has published several peer-reviewed articles on body-worn cameras.

He said there are many prevailing assumptions among the public about how footage can be used to pursue recourse for perceived wrongdoing.

"If you are civilian and you believe that you've experienced brutality or misconduct, you have to file a Freedom of Information request to get access to your own footage," Schneider said. 

"This can be subject, sometimes to months or longer of delays."

McGillivray said that footage is stored on the cloud for RCMP to access and would be disclosed as part of court proceedings. 

Ultimately, what is considered the "true" version of the incident that transpired is often subject to how things proceed in court and what is accepted. 

"This is another assumption ... that recordings are some sort of independent arbiter of truth, and it's going to show everything that's truthful and just and that's profoundly untrue," Schneider said.  

"These materials are shown in the courtroom, and narratives are provided by the Crown, by the defence, instructing the judge and jury of what it is that they're seeing, and trying to convince them that they're correct." 

The federal government has committed nearly $240 million over six years to get the program running and $50 million annually in operating funding.

Schneider said with varying questions and concerns on the purpose and efficiency of body-worn cameras, the cost is hard to justify.

"If we were to take that money and instead invest it in things like affordable housing, drug and rehabilitation centres, job training and so on. These things have been shown to lead to concrete reductions in crime, increased community safety, increased community happiness."