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On Nov. 22, select members of the Yellowknife RCMP donned body-worn cameras (BWCs) that will be ultimately worn by every officer in the country.
“We are optimistic that the roll out of body-worn cameras will have a positive impact on policing in the Northwest Territories,” RCMP spokesperson Const. Josh Seaward said just before the devices were deployed. “BWCs help to provide an objective record of interactions between police and the public, increasing the accountability of both. This can also encourage a more timely resolution of conduct matters. The footage can increase the strength of investigations and prosecutions and help to bring details to light that might otherwise have been missed in the heat of the moment.
“Building and deepening trust between the RCMP and the communities we serve is of paramount importance. While body-worn cameras will not show all perspectives of an encounter or capture every detail of an event, they will vastly improve our ability to convey what an officer experienced and did during an interaction.”
The hope is that by early December, all of Yellowknife’s officers will be fully trained in the use of BWCs and equipped with the devices. Later in the month, officers in Fort Providence and Behchoko will receive cameras, with other communities being equipped with cameras in the following six to eight months.
The BWCs being used by the RCMP do not record constantly, and must be activated by the officer, at which point the three lights below the lens will switch from green to red to indicate both video and audio are being captured. However, the cameras “are always recording a 30-second buffer clip” of video, according to Seaward.
“When a police officer hits the button to begin a video recording, the 30 seconds of video prior to the button press will become part of the video clip,” he said. That does not include audio, “which only begins after the button is pressed.”
Officers are obligated to activate the camera each time they respond to a call for service or come into contact with a member of the public for the purpose of a police investigation. The cameras must also be used to record statements that would normally be taken in the field, interactions with people in custody and any other situations where officers believe capturing audio or video evidence would support their investigation.
The RCMP’s BWCs will not be used during strip searches, or in areas where privacy is implied, such as restrooms, parts of hospitals, and religious settings. The devices will not be used for the purposes of facial recognition, surveillance or covert recording.
Footage will be stored in digital evidence management systems provided by Axon, the manufacturer of the devices. If a member of the public wants to access footage they appear in, they can do so by making an access to information request, the same way they would to access other information in police possession, such as police reports.
“At times, footage may be disclosed where the public interest outweighs the invasion of privacy to an individual,” Seaward said. “These are usually exceptional cases and a determination must be made in each one. Of course, any footage relating to an investigation in which charges are laid will form part of the disclosure made to crown and defence counsel.”
Shauna Morgan, MLA for Yellowknife North, called the RCMP’s roll out of BWCs “a positive step.”
“I hope it will help build up better trust between the police force and members of our community, particularly marginalized groups, including Indigenous women,” Morgan said. “We desperately need safer communities, and that will require trust and collaboration among citizens and law enforcement. It was highlighted in the report published by the Yellowknife Women’s Society earlier this year – “Over-policed and under-protected” – there is a deficit of trust in police that needs to be addressed.”
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