More RCMP in Alberta are wearing body cameras. But do they improve safety?
CBC
Alberta RCMP have ramped up the use of body-worn cameras for front-line officers as a push is underway to have 90 per cent of the national police force use the cameras within the coming year.
Alberta RCMP said the move was part of their "commitment to transparency and accountability."
RCMP provided a demonstration of the cameras to media on Dec. 5 at the Parkland detachment in Spruce Grove.
"Body-worn cameras provide a new opportunity for the Alberta RCMP," said Insp. Kevin McGillivray.
"The video evidence collected through these devices will provide independent, unbiased and objective interactions between civilians and officers, helping to increase trust between police and the communities that we serve."
But criminal justice and policing experts say the research is contradictory on how effective the cameras are at decreasing, or even increasing, use of force incidents and complaints.
"As part of a broad range of probable accountability measures, I believe that body-worn cameras have their place," said University of Alberta criminologist Temitope Oriola in an interview with CBC.
"However, it is important to not view body-worn cameras as the solution to all problems in policing."
The national police force first announced its plan to equip between 10,000 and 15,000 officers with body-worn cameras back in 2020, as protests against police brutality took place around the world in the wake of George Floyd's death in police custody in Minneapolis that year.
Public complaints filed against RCMP members have continued to trend upwards over the past five years, according to data from the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP.
881 public complaints were lodged regarding the on-duty conduct of RCMP members in Alberta between April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024.
The Alberta government announced in March 2023 that body-worn cameras would become mandatory for all police officers in Alberta.
Edmonton police started issuing cameras to 280 officers in various units in September as part of a pilot project in July 2023.
Body-worn cameras became mandatory for Calgary police officers in 2019.
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
The mayor of Creighton says residents will have to remain patient, as the northeastern Saskatchewan town waits for health-care services to restart in the neighbouring city of Flin Flon, Man.
A rural municipality in southwest Saskatchewan is sounding the alarm as the worst dry conditions in almost a decade push crops and livestock to the brink.
Warning: This story contains details some may find disturbing.
A commercial food processing company has pleaded guilty to a workplace safety charge after an Edmonton worker became trapped in a smokehouse and died.
The will of a deceased B.C. woman will be contested by an old friend, her closest living relatives and a male escort approximately 54 years her junior following a decision by a provincial Supreme Court judge.
In the search for three-year-old Claire Bell, Quebec provincial police have located an important witness they say spoke to her mother on Sunday — just hours before she reported her child missing.
Toronto cop gets suspended sentence, probation for assault over fake watch sale where man later died
An off-duty Toronto police officer has received a suspended sentence and a year of probation after being found guilty of assault for forcing a Brampton man to the ground in 2021 over a fake Apple watch in a Kijiji deal gone bad.
The P.E.I. Fishermen's Association says it is closely monitoring the situation after Fisheries and Oceans Canada restricted a fishing area off P.E.I. waters due to the detection of an entangled North Atlantic right whale very close to the Island's coast.
Abuse of referees in amateur sport has been an issue for decades and all sorts of attempts have been made to curb the problem, from sternly worded signs that remind fans to be respectful to green armbands that identify novice officials to body-worn cameras that record footage from the refs' perspectives.
When his lawyer's name flashed on his phone early last month, Michael Murray ducked out to answer the call — the physician was in the middle of seeing patients at his medical clinic in Hawaii, but this call from Toronto felt important.
Victoria Gold's receiver wants to put the Eagle mine in Yukon up for sale.
After Prime Minister Mark Carney and President Donald Trump met one-on-one for 30 minutes on Monday morning, but before their respective teams joined to continue the discussion, the two leaders invited reporters and television cameras into a meeting room in Kananaskis, Alta. to witness them exchanging formal pleasantries.
On the final day before G7 leaders gather in Kananaskis, Alta., activists and community groups met in downtown Calgary on Saturday afternoon for a "people's forum" that took aim at the priorities of G7 leaders.