By Cheryl Jahn

Body-Worn cameras will be costly

Aug 12, 2022 | 4:04 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – As City Council geared up to contemplate its latest budget last fall, the City was staring at a massive hike to the policing budget after the federal government negotiated pay raises for members of the RCMP.

For the City of Prince George, that came with a bill for $6 million.

That was the blatant sticker shock. But then there’s the fine print.

“The federal government has announced the roll out of body-worn cameras for the RCMP,” says Superintendent Shaun Wright, head of the Prince George Detachment. “It’s likely to wind up here, boots on the ground, within about a year.”

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Municipal police forces across the country are already using body-worn cameras. And that has now been added to the new contract inked for the RCMP.

“Those are pieces that have been added into the contract that, again, that local governments are going to have pay for,” says Laurey-Anne Roodenburg, President of the Union of BC Municipalities.

And here’s why it may pose a challenge to RCMP detachments across the country, particularly the smaller detachments like Prince George.

“Part of the MOU with Crown Counsel is, for audio recordings, we provide transcribed copies,” explains Supt Wright. “So, if we’re obtaining audio-video evidence from multiple officers at basically every event, that’s going to exponentially increase the demands to discloses those items. The transcription process is extremely time-consuming.”

He says, conservatively, it takes roughly five minutes to transcribe one minute of audio.

“It’s going to be a massive drain on resources.”

According to the federal government, policy and training is currently underway with roll out happening next year. Prince George falls within the boundaries of what’s called E-Division and according to Superintendent Shaun Wright, this community will be one of the early recipients of the cameras.