CAMERAS OVERDUE
Two years after purchasing the equipment, Saskatchewan RCMP are just now finishing up a pilot project with the aim of getting dashboard cameras into all patrol cars in the province.
It’s been a slow, somewhat strange process. The cameras have been sitting in the vehicles in an inoperable state. A procurement audit published by the force in March 2015 concluded that the RCMP concentrated on acquiring the systems and did not pay enough attention to how recorded footage would be stored. Audit recommendations included the development of new policies and procedures.
“No single group assumed responsibility for ensuring all aspects of the purchased systems were properly considered, and that appropriate ongoing management of the asset and resulting data was put in place,” the audit states.
Often, pilot projects are done prior to organizations putting out the cash for equipment being tested. In this case, the pilot project came long after the cameras were installed.
Clearly, the RCMP needs to clean up the bureaucracy around these kinds of initiatives for the good of officers and the public.
Defence lawyers interviewed by Postmedia also called for the new camera systems to be deployed as soon as possible.
“I would certainly like to know more about the reason why (dashcam footage is not available), and I think the taxpayer deserves to know more about the reason why such resources were expended on this system and it’s never been implemented,” said Lisa Watson, a criminal lawyer in Saskatoon.
The RCMP clearly recognizes the need for the cameras.
“In-car digital video systems are important and support officer safety and can increase a police service’s accountability to the public,” said assistant commissioner Curtis Zablocki. “They also can provide the best evidence when investigations are presented to the court. I am committed to ensuring this valuable tool is rolled out.”
In other parts of the world, dashboard cameras are considered to be part of life on the road for regular citizens, as well as police. In Russia, where there are widespread concerns about corruption around policing on the road, they are commonplace. This has been true for years now.
“You can get into your car without your pants on, but never get into a car without a dash cam,” Aleksei Dozorov, an activist with a motorists’ rights group, told Radio Free Europe in 2012.
This is not groundbreaking technology.It is important the transparency offered by dashboard cameras — and potentially body cameras — is available to law enforcement officers and to the public at large in a speedy manner.