ARMCHAIR ARCHIVES – Cost of body-worn cameras for police will be worth it

NOTE: The following editorial was originally published March 7, 2023. Body cams have now been approved by Kamloops Mounties beginning Dec. 9. The units will cost $3,000 each times 115 members. Supt. Jeff Pelley says, Body worn cameras are the new national standard for RCMP frontline officers, and here in Kamloops, we are excited to be able to include them as an essential tool in the modernization of policing. We see BWCs as a tool to help improve our interactions with the public, enhance evidence gathering, increase public trust in police, resolve public complaints more quickly, and contribute to officer safety.

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

BODYWORN CAMERAS are expected to become common among frontline RCMP officers later this year or early next, and they will prove a valuable tool in the pursuit of justice in this country.

Both police and those they interact with will be given a new means of determining the facts. When Kamloops will get them is unclear but members of the last council and leadership at the Kamloops detachment have spoken in favour of them.

National guidelines for how they’ll be used were released late last year and B.C. set standards for them almost four years ago. They won’t be turned on 24-7. Each time officers arrive at a call, a decision will be made whether or not to turn them on.

Though some cities with their own police forces already use them, the reason they aren’t widely employed is the cost. In the case of the RCMP, though, the feds will put up $248 million. That should erase previous objections.

As it is now, video evidence is largely dependent on passersby with cellphones, and they aren’t always reliable. Yet there have been incidents here and certainly elsewhere in which such videos have been instrumental in assessing exactly what happens when there are police-involved conflicts.

A pilot program resulted in 85 per cent of the officers who used them being in support, and a large majority in the community where the pilot took place said they felt safer and that the cameras increased their trust in the police.

There’s no longer any doubt that body cams should be mandatory in every community, whether served by the RCMP or by municipal police forces. It’s not just about police accountability; it’s about protecting police from false accusations about their conduct.

It’s estimated it will cost $50 million a year to maintain them. And there’s a cost in the time it takes to process the videos, too.

That cost will be worth it.

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor.  He is proudly multi-racial. Mel can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.