SUNDRE – Members of the Sundre RCMP detachment are expected to start donning body-worn cameras early next year.
“The deployment of cameras themselves are beginning in Alberta for the fall of 2024,” Cpl. Courtney Harding, the Sundre RCMP detachment's acting commander, told Sundre council during the regular Sept. 30 meeting.
“It’s expected to take 12 months to complete the roll-out; it’s a huge undertaking,” said Harding, adding there are approximately 10,000 to 15,000 uniformed police officers throughout the country who are expected to be outfitted with the devices.
“This is why it’s taking some time for this to come out and roll out to us,” she said, adding other factors to consider include IT concerns as well as training and policies.
“So it’s going to take some time,” she said.
“For Sundre RCMP, we are expecting the cameras to be arriving and ready for use as of February 2025,” she said.
“We’re kind of in the midst of our full system setup and full deployment.”
However, body cameras have already been used by police services in many places including the cities of Calgary and Edmonton, she said.
“Body-worn cameras are not new to police agencies,” she said.
“They are intended to capture an accurate and unbiased audio and video account of incidents involving police,” she said. “We see this – body-worn cameras – as a very positive thing for us, a positive addition to the work that we do on a daily basis.”
Among the objectives are to help foster greater accountability as well as public trust and improved interactions between police and the public, she said.
“I do see the roll out of the cameras, it could go either way when we’re dealing with a client. Some clients may take exception to us having a camera on us and it could possibly escalate a situation,” she said.
“I do also see that the presence of the camera in itself will in fact de-escalate a situation because our client will know that the camera is on and will adjust their behaviour accordingly.”
Further, the devices will also enhance the ability to gather evidence and more accurately capture an account of interactions and investigations, she added.
“That is really truly the primary reason for us switching over to the body-worn cameras, is in fact for evidence gathering.”
Video recordings are also expected to help produce quicker resolutions when public complaints arise as “there will be no truer account of events,” she said, adding the devices are activated prior to arriving at a scene to show how the situation – regardless of whether it is an emergency response or an investigation – was handled, she said.
Based on research conducted by the RCMP to obtain feedback from stakeholders, council heard that the public has by and large had “a positive response to body-worn cameras being utilized by police.”
But while the public’s perception leans toward an improved sense of transparency, accountability and by extension trust with the RCMP, the corporal noted there are also some concerns that have been expressed and said that the devices will need to be regulated by policy with adequate training on proper use.
“We need to ensure consistency in the use of these cameras,” she said.
“There’s privacy protection, as far as the data,” she said. “The recordings that are coming onto the camera and how exactly those are uploaded and retained and stored for court purposes.”
Access and disclosure were also cited among the concerns expressed, especially pertaining to sensitive investigations such as gender-based violence including cases of sexual assault that will involve speaking with a victim.
Per the information she has been provided, the corporal said she understands that when the cameras are activated, the recording will actually capture the 30 seconds before the device is turned on to allow greater transparency and accountability.
The cameras will be used when initiating contact with a member of the public, whether for the purpose of an investigation, a crime in progress, a mental health call, public disorder or even traffic stops.
The camera’s footage will be invaluable when pulling over a motorist for suspected signs of impairment and in incidents involving a person who might escalate or even assault an officer as well as for capturing not only evidence of any injuries sustained by a victim when responding to calls about domestic violence but also witness statements, she said.
“Quite often when we arrive on scene, victims or complainants are providing that initial account; and those quite often are the best accounts,” she said.
With certain exceptions involving extenuating circumstances that may prompt an officer not to record, she said police would need to be able to articulate why the camera was not used.
“Policy should cover that,” she said.
The cameras are not intended, however, to be used for 24-hour recording or surveillance and covert operations, nor are the devices to be used during strip or body cavity searches and areas with high expectation of privacy unless there are extenuating circumstances, she said.
“It’s definitely going to be heavily regulated,” she said.
There will also be a process to request access to videos through an existing ATIP procedures, she said.
“If that’s the case, all other non-involved parties, that information will be redacted,” she said.
Full public disclosure is only expected to be considered under exceptional circumstances such as an emergency or when withholding a recording could seriously undermine the public’s confidence in police, she said, citing as an example a situation where officers are faced with an armed person who uses a weapon prompting responding officers to make the decision to use lethal force.
“In those types of situations, a body-worn camera is very valuable in providing a true account; what is the police officer seeing, how is that subject responding,” she said.
While the body cameras will of course come at a cost, that expense is expected to “be absorbed by the province and the federal government,” she said.
“I hope to learn more over the next few months as we progress through the roll out of this.”
Coun. Paul Isaac said that when he had first heard about the initiative, he was initially under the impression the cameras were intended to provide protection for officers who often respond to volatile and uncertain situations.
But the councillor added that as he listened to the corporal’s presentation describing different scenarios, “I realize that there are many elements that come into play.”
Isaac said he was curious to know if any members of the RCMP might harbour any doubts or concerns, especially given the fact recordings actually begin 30 seconds before an officer hits the start button, which in higher-stress scenarios when one’s vernacular is perhaps not always proper might influence an officer’s approach. The councillor asked if the policies regulating the use of the cameras would all be complete before the devices are introduced in Sundre.
“Yes,” the corporal replied. “My understanding is the policies are well underway; it’s just a matter of that being communicated with us in the field.”
Coun. Chris Vardas asked how a recording begins 30 seconds before the button is even activated.
“Explain it to me like a three-year-old,” said Vardas.
“It’s similar to the same technology we have in our police vehicles already,” said Harding. “Our in-car video recording system does the exact same thing.”
Video recordings are on a loop, but data or information is only actually stored once the camera is activated, she said.
Vardas also asked how long the devices’ battery life span lasts as well as how much storage they have available. The corporal said those were good questions but did not immediately have such specific details available at her fingertips.
Coun. Jaime Marr asked if video recordings of victim-impact statements from violent crimes and domestic abuse would be transcribed and replayed for legal proceedings to spare the victim being asked to recount and therefor relive the trauma they experienced.
Harding reiterated such initial statements are “by far known to be the most accurate” and will therefore provide invaluable evidence since memory and retention of facts are affected by the passing of time.
Coun. Todd Dalke asked if the policy would be publicly available and whether recordings would be mandatory for every traffic stop.
Harding confirmed that video will be recorded during traffic stops, and added that policies are typically available to the public and that she could present those at a later date once they’re finalized.
Mayor Richard Warnock asked if video is broadcast live or recorded.
“When that body cam is on, is somebody at the detachment looking at it?” asked Warnock. “Or is it just stored there.”
Harding said that recorded video from police vehicles automatically uploads to servers when in proximity to detachment, and presumed that would also apply to body cameras.
Council later accepted the corporal’s presentation, which included a comparison of quarterly statistics from 2023 and 2024, as information.
