Mission RCMP is the first detachment in B.C. to use body-worn cameras.
Frontline officers completed online training and 44 cameras were deployed on Sunday (Nov. 24). During the first week, the B.C. project team will be on-site in Mission to deliver in-person training to local Mounties.
"I'm very pleased that our frontline officers will be the first in the division to use the cameras. Mission is an excellent starting place for the project team to start the rollout. We are a smaller detachment within the Lower Mainland ... we have the technical capability, location and operational considerations to make us a good fit for being first out of the gate," Mission RCMP officer-in-charge Ted Lewko said in an official announcement from "E" Division headquarters in Surrey on Thursday (Nov. 21).
Local RCMP members will be issued individual cameras at the in-person training sessions. Lewko saic they are expected to use the cameras in their following shift.
"On a personal note, I'm grateful that our officers will soon be wearing and utilizing these cameras. I anticipate that body-worn cameras will not only strengthen public trust – an important aspect to me personally – but I also expect them to resolve public complaints more quickly and to improve the efficiency of evidence gathering," Lewko said.
The officer-in-charge is hopeful the cameras will improve the safety of frontline officers.
“E” Division deputy commissioner Dwayne McDonald said Mission was one of the first communities to ask to participate.
"We tried to select communities that were ready to go [and[ that had the necessary infrastructure to be able to adopt the cameras right away, including support personnel to deal with all the downloading, the vetting, etc.," McDonald said.
McDonald said E Division has prepared significantly for the rollout in Mission and expects a "relatively seamless" transition.
Body-worn cameras and a digital evidence management service are being introduced by the RCMP as a national standard for all frontline general duty police officers. Over 3,000 cameras will be introduced province-wide.
According to an earlier statement from E Division, the project aims to strengthen transparency, accountability and public trust; resolve public complaints more quickly; improve interactions with the public; and improve evidence gathering.
Officers will activate their body-worn cameras during calls for service including crimes in progress, mental health calls, interactions with people in crisis, protests and public disorder. Per the RCMP website, they will also be activated for investigations and “to record information to support the performance of their duties”.
The cameras are not intended to be used for 24-hour recording, surveillance or intimate searches, according to the website.
McDonald said that while the cameras are worn, they are on standby, which means they're always buffering and capturing 30 seconds of video without audio. He said it's "essentially writing over that 30 seconds constantly," but once the camera is activated it attaches the 30 seconds without audio to the rest of the video.
"It's in the best interest of our officers to capture the video," McDonald said. "I think it's important to remember that in addition to calls from public for greater transparency ... and accountability for police, it's also in police's best interest to give the objective viewpoint of what's happening in interactions with the public."
In B.C., police agencies have watchdogs including, the Independent Investigations Office and the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner. Nationally, there is the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission, which is an independent agency tasked with examining RCMP conduct.
The Independent Investigations Office, which investigates police's actions or inactions into incidents of death or serious harm, doesn't force an officer under investigation to be interviewed or submit notes, reports or data.
McDonald said the IIO would absolutely have access to the even if the officer chooses to not submit anything. He added those agencies will have access to unvetted – generally redacted – versions of the footage to conduct oversight investigations.
"That's where the transparency and accountability comes from."
He said he completely understands the "public's desire, and in some cases, curiosity to know right away what happens, but we do have to respect the privacy legislation."
The RCMP's federal headquarters announced the national rollout Nov. 14. Over the next nine months, 1,000 officers will start using the body-worn cameras each month.
Ninety per cent of the RCMP officers will be using the cameras in the next year, with the full rollout completed within 18 months.
The RCMP is not the first to roll out body-worn cameras in B.C.
The Delta Police Department, in the Lower Mainland, has been using the technology for more than two years. At a news conference in January 2024, the department anticipated it would have about 37 body-worn cameras in operation.
-With files from Lauren Collins
