The RCMP has announced the roll-out of body-worn cameras (BWCs) to six communities in British Columbia in its first phase beginning November 24, 2024.
Approximately, 300 cameras will go to frontline police in Mission, Tofino, Ucluelet, Cranbrook and the Cranbrook British Columbia Highway Patrol (BCHP), Kamloops and Prince George, in that order. Fort St. John and the surrounding Peace Region will roll-out the cameras in January 2025.
Citizens in Mission will be the first in the province to see its RCMP officers wearing the cameras during frontline duties.
This phased roll-out will give these communities and the RCMP time to refine the use of the cameras as a frontline policing tool.
As British Columbia’s provincial police service, the BC RCMP will represent the largest roll-out of any police agency in the province with more than 3,000 cameras to be deployed over the next 12 to 18 months.
“We anticipate many benefits from the use of body-worn cameras including improved public and officer safety,” said
Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald, Commanding Officer of E Division. “The RCMP believes the cameras will enhance transparency and accountability as well as provide a first person view of what police officers encounter daily, often in highly dynamic and tense situations.”
The roll-out of body-worn cameras is part of the RCMP’s modernization efforts and is the national standard for all RCMP officers across the country,
says Assistant Commissioner John Brewer who oversees RCMP Criminal Operations in the province.
The RCMP estimates that the body-worn cameras and digital evidence management services (DEMS) will cost approximately $3,000 per user each year. The RCMP is using a Software-as-a-Service subscription model which minimizes upfront costs and limits the need for infrastructure requirements.
In 2020, the federal government urged police agencies to use body-worn cameras as a means to respond to concerns from racialized and indigenous communities about interactions with police.
The RCMP agreed that body-worn cameras were an additional tool that would increase accountability and improve police transparency. It is now the national standard for the RCMP.
The initial roll-out represents about 10% of the total that will eventually be distributed to frontline officers across the province.
The RCMP’s Body-Worn Camera policy is publicly available.