Sask. RCMP deploys body-worn cameras, but don't expect to see much of the video

Front-line RCMP officers in Saskatchewan are being issued body-worn cameras this month, as part of a nationwide effort to increase “transparency and accountability.”

The RCMP says the cameras will be worn by front-line officers, who only have to turn them on “while in the lawful execution of their duties,” such as during a traffic stop or when talking to someone for the purpose of a police investigation.

The Fort Qu’Appelle detachment will be the first to receive the new equipment, with the Black Lake, Fond du Lac, Pelican Narrows, Onion Lake and Punnichy detachments phasing in over the next four weeks, the RCMP said in a news release on Monday.

All other detachments in the province will receive the cameras over the next eight to 12 months, the RCMP says.

Nationally, the RCMP estimates about 1,000 officers per month will migrate to the new system, with the force aiming to have 90 per cent of frontline officers using the devices by November 2025.

“As we continue to modernize as Saskatchewan’s provincial police service, body-worn cameras will have a role in our ongoing trust-building with the communities and people we serve,” said Rhonda Blackmore, the Sask. RCMP’s top cop.

“Body-worn cameras are one more tool we can use as police officers in our daily duties and in being accountable to the public.”

The use of body-worn cameras is becoming increasingly commonplace in Canada, and researchers have studied whether the devices could help improve the behaviour of officers in the field, reduce the use of force, and protect officers from public complaints.

Experts say the evidence is inconsistent.

“Sometimes they do; sometimes they don’t; sometimes there’s no statistical significance between officers with cameras and officers without,” said Christopher Schneider, a Brandon University professor who has written several peer-reviewed papers about body-worn cameras.

One 2014 study out of Rialto, California showed the presence of body-worn cameras did reduce public complaints and police use of force, said Schneider, who spoke with CTV News last month.

In 2015, the Edmonton Police Service issued a report on its own use of body-worn cameras that found no evidence they reduced the number of complaints or the use of force.

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The RCMP says the goal of these cameras is for transparency, but don’t expect to see a flood of arrest videos on social media anytime soon — Canadian privacy laws will prevent much of it from being released because it contains personal information.

“If the public … are expecting that they’re going to see body-worn camera footage when there’s a critical incident in question, they’re not going to. It’s never going to be released,” Schneider said.

In a guidance on the police use of body-worn cameras, the federal privacy commissioner warns the devices have major implications not just for the protection of personal information, but also for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“For example, whether the use of [body-worn cameras] in any given context intrudes on the public’s reasonable expectation of privacy or constitutes an interception of private communications, including in places accessible to members of the public,” the commissioner writes.

“[Law enforcement agencies] also need to be mindful of additional legal implications whenever images and sound are recorded in private spaces, such as inside people’s homes or vehicles.”

While privacy rules will prevent the RCMP from releasing footage to a third party, if you are the subject of the video recording, you may be able to access it. Whether the RCMP releases that willingly — or must be compelled through an access to information request — will be an early test of its avowed commitment to transparency and accountability.

-With files from Anna McMillan and Rachel Aiello