Grande Prairie RCMP are set to start using body cams in February, as part of a field test to make the provincial RCMP more transparent in their operations.
On February 6th, body cams are scheduled to roll out to RCMP members in Grande Prairie, St. Paul, and Parkland County for an eight to ten-week test.
Corporal Mathew Howell, a public information officer for the Alberta RCMP, says this is the second field test for the police service after the first failed to meet the RCMP’s criteria. He says a body camera launch has been in the works for years, due in large part to the RCMP’s long procurement process.
“The RCMP has a process when it comes to acquiring new equipment, and they essentially tell the market- this is what we’re looking for, and then everyone will place bids in and whoever the best bid gets the first attempt, [and] in our case the first attempt did not meet our threshold and our criteria,” he says.
According to the RCMP, officers will wear their cameras in the middle of their chest, and members of the public will know it’s recording when a red light is visible on the camera.
Howell says the cameras are an important aspect of both citizen and officer safety, and allow residents who choose to make complaints to undergo a review process to identify if an officer was acting inappropriately in a situation.
“A lot of people are saying officers are acting a certain way towards them, and there’s complaints coming in,” he says. “If every interaction is filmed and downloaded into our system, then as soon as there’s a complaint, that footage can be taken and used towards that complaint.”
Howell says the process will benefit both parties during a complaint, allowing residents to prove their complaints, and allowing officers to prove they were acting within RCMP policy.
“It’s something that will help on both ends of the spectrum,” he says. “By being filmed, every interaction becomes something that will be there and accessible for those kinds of interactions.”
Should the field tests prove to be a success, the RCMP says a national rollout will proceed in the following 12 to 18 months after the field test process is complete.
