P.E.I. RCMP will begin rolling out body cameras to officers this week

If you have an interaction with an RCMP officer on P.E.I. later this week, you might be on camera.

The force is rolling out body-worn cameras to some of its officers on Wednesday, starting with its traffic services unit.

"This is a tool that helps to both collect evidence and bring about greater accountability, both to officers and to the individuals that the officers are interacting with," said Cpl. Gavin Moore, the P.E.I. RCMP's media relations officer.

"It can help to resolve conflicts quickly and will be a very helpful tool in presenting evidence in court."

Across Canada over the next nine months, roughly 1,000 front-line RCMP officers per month will deploy with Axon Public Safety Canada Inc.'s cameras.

The force estimates that 90 per cent of front-line members will be using body-worn cameras by this time next year.

The cameras will be worn at the centre of an officer's vestand, according to RCMP policy, they have to be on and recording during service calls, ongoing crimes and investigations, mental health calls and protest response.

The audio and video will be uploaded at the end of an officer's shift and will be maintained on a digital evidence management system.

Moore said the footage will most commonly be used for court purposes.

"There is a vetting process as well where private information is protected, as well as any irrelevant information is extracted from the video for court purposes," he said.

The RCMP's national profile likely means its program will attract added scrutiny over when the cameras are used and who gets access to the footage.

Body cameras will make court matters more efficient, increase officer accountability, RCMP say

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Duration 2:14

Traffic services officers with P.E.I. RCMP are rolling out bodycams this week as part of the first wave of a national initiative to equip all front-line members with the technology. Laura Meader got a demonstration and spoke with the local Mounties about the change.

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.

The RCMP has said it might proactively disclose footage from a body-worn camera "where it is in the public interest to do so."

Members of the public can request footage taken of them through the Privacy Act.

Christopher Schneider, a sociology professor at Brandon University in Manitoba, said that request could take months, and allows police to review the footage beforehand. He said thepractice has been criticized by organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union in the United States as far back as 2015.

"They claim this allows police to lieand allows police to get their narrative straight," Schneider said. "All the while the people involved on the other end of the camera are denied access to the footage and this invariably provides an advantage to police in the courtroom."

Schneider hasstudied howtechnologies like body cameras change policing and police work. He saidbody-worn cameras documentincidents and behaviour, but the evidence around whetherbody-worn cameras reduce the likelihood of police use of force orcivilian complaints about police is inconsistent.

"Police body-worn cameras have been rolled out on the basis of beliefs and assumptions about human behaviour, the idea being that if an officer is wearing a camera, of course they're not going to engage in misconduct or brutality. Subsequently, if a civilian is interacting with an officer, of course they're going to comply with police commands, because we all know the cameras are recording everything," he said.

"But we know that cameras do not deter or stop bad actors or bad behaviour. If they did, nobody would ever rob a bank ever again or steal from a convenience store. We're all surveilled constantly."

'A picture says a thousand words'

Brian Sauv, president and CEO of the National Police Federation, said Canada's largest police unionhas longadvocated for body cameras.

"Our members have become all too familiar with being scrutinized by the public and these cameras will allow for increased transparency and trust between our Members and their communities," he said in an email to CBC.

Moore said the P.E.I. Mountiesare able to roll out this technology fairly quickly due to the relatively smallsize of the force in this province. He expects all of the Island's front-line officers to be using bodycams within the next few months.

Overall, he said, the footage should make court proceedings more efficient and increase officers' accountability when dealing with the public.

"A picture says a thousand words, and when we show a video that is impartial, that can help tell the tale of what has occurred, it is a tremendous advantage," Moore said.

"And of course it does also help to resolve conflicts that may occur [because] you have an impartial piece of evidence that will help tell the tale."