Westman Mounties included in Feb. body camera rollout

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/01/2025 (258 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — At least one-third of RCMP officers in Manitoba are expected to be wearing body-worn cameras by the end of March amid an ongoing Canada-wide rollout by the national police service.

Four more Manitoba detachments are set to begin using cameras in January, followed by two dozen others in February and March, Manitoba RCMP spokesman Sgt. Paul Manaigre said.

“One thing that appears to be popular with the officers is the ability to take photos and audio statements with the (cameras),” Manaigre told the Winnipeg Free Press. “On the investigational side, it’s definitely helping in that regard.”

The phased rollout to 674 front-line officers in Manitoba began with Steinbach’s detachment on Nov. 22. It is expected to take 18 months.

Officers in Portage la Prairie, Amaranth and Treherne began using the cameras, which are worn on the front of uniforms, on Dec. 4.

The Selkirk, Red River North (East St. Paul) and Grand Marais detachments will get cameras Tuesday, followed by St-Pierre-Jolys on Jan. 22.

The rollout will expand to detachments in Brandon, Dauphin, Hamiota, Minnedosa, Neepawa, Shoal Lake, Ste. Rose du Lac and Wasagaming in February, Manaigre said.

Bodycams will be used by officers based in Beausejour, Boissevain, Carman, Chemawawin Cree Nation, Fisher Branch, Gimli, Grand Rapids, Gypsumville, Killarney, Manitou, Oakbank, Melita, Morden, Reston, Sprague and Virden in March.

Chemawawin and Grand Rapids are scheduled to be the first northern Manitoba detachments to be equipped with cameras.

“By the end of March, at least one-third of officers in Manitoba will have body-worn cameras,” Manaigre said.

Manitoba RCMP expect more than 490 officers in 44 detachments to be equipped with cameras by the end of April.

Officers complete about eight hours of training before using cameras in the field. An online component is followed by training when they receive the device, Manaigre said.

The federal government pledged nearly $240 million over six years and $50 million in annual operating funding for the program.

The RCMP promoted the technology as a way to help increase trust, resolve public complaints more quickly and improve evidence-gathering.

The police service’s internal audit, evaluation and review branch, touted as an independent office, has one audit of the bodycam program in progress, and a second planned, its website states.

Christopher Schneider, a sociology professor at Brandon University, said the “verdict is out” on whether the cameras boost transparency or accountability because they are typically not measured in scientific research.

Studies in other jurisdictions showed mixed results on whether cameras help to reduce the number of use-of-force incidents or public complaints, he said.

Footage is rarely made public in Canada, partly because of privacy laws. Schneider cited examples in Canada and the U.S. in which officers deliberately turned off their cameras.

“I desperately want them to work. I really do, but the evidence doesn’t support it,” Schneider said.

Evaluations, or audits, of bodycam programs should be done once a year by a third party instead of police services, he said.

The findings, including disciplinary action for policy breaches, should be made public, Schneider said.

Municipal police officers in Brandon will begin using cameras by this fall, the city’s police chief, Tyler Bates, recently told The Brandon Sun.

The Winnipeg Police Service does not use bodycams. City council rejected a funding proposal in 2021, when the cost of more than 1,300 cameras was estimated at $7 million. The annual operating cost, including digital video storage and staff members, was about $4 million.

» Winnipeg Free Press