Redcliff RCMP await the testing results of body camera in three Alberta jurisdiction

Worn body cameras are beginning their initial tests in St. Paul, Parkland and Grand Prairie, to see if these second eyes will be helpful to RCMP officers across the country.

A total of 191 cameras are being sent to these major detachments for the purposes of field testing, said Detachment Commander Sgt. Michael Courty with the Redcliff RCMP.

“The purpose is to field-test them, and just to confirm that they work properly and work out any bugs before they get distributed to the rest of Alberta,” said Courty. At this time, it’s unknown when cameras will be coming to the rest of the province.

“This is something that they’ve been talking about trying to get them in, and some of the things that they were trying to work out were ‘how do we download the footage’, ‘where do we store the videos’ and all that stuff like that,” explained Courty. “I think they were able to work that out. Now they’re starting to roll them out.”

The intent of the cameras is not only to improve accountability, for both the officers and the civilians they interact with, but to aid in investigations as well.

“Right now, we already have cameras in our vehicles. So when we activate our lights, or we pull the car over, we already have cameras in there. Then, we also have a kind of a body-worn microphone that we can wear when we’re out dealing with people,” said Courty. “But these body-worn cameras, they’re nice, because then they go everywhere we go. If we’re not standing right in front of our car, then it’s still capturing video of what’s going on. If there’s always a camera going with what we’re doing, that’s capturing stuff that we might forget to write down or it’s (just) there; it’s being recorded.”

Instructions have already come through as to when the cameras will and won’t be in use, said Courty, to help get officers prepared for the eventual change.

“Those include calls like mental health calls and interactions with people in crisis, crimes in progress during our investigations, during public order and protests, demonstrations. (It’s for) anytime we want to record information to support the performance of our duties during the performance of our duties,” said Courty.

The body cams are not to be used as surveillance, nor will they be in use then there is an expectation of privacy, said Courty such as during intimate searches or private conversations with an officer.

It’s still not known how the cameras will be rolled out, but should the tests prove successful, Courty noted that the number of cameras that would be rolled out is nearly enough for every officer in the RCMP.

“It’s just another step forward with accountability and that way, they’re in helping us with our investigation,” said Courty.