There has been a clear push for body-worn cameras to be implemented amongst police forces throughout the last few years. The most considerable goal of this equipment is to improve public confidence and trust among police officers through increased accountability, especially in diversified and marginalized communities. Police departments are hopeful that body-worn cameras will bridge the gap in transparency between police-civilian interactions. The evaluation of body-worn cameras will be utilized towards enhancing law enforcement agencies' ability to provide effective policing strategies to their communities and when responding to calls for service, as well as attempting to increase their capacity to adopt a community-policing model. Furthermore, using body-worn cameras in the field of policing presents an opportunity to reduce high rates of complaints against officer misconduct and use-of-force and ensure that laws are being enforced legally, equally, and without discrimination. However, privacy related concerns of public citizens (as outlined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects individuals against indiscriminate video surveillance without cause), a lack of legislation around the use of this technology of when, where, and what can be recorded, and budgetary costs of maintaining the hardware, regular maintenance, and training of this technology may drastically be hindering the deployment and reoccurring usage of body-worn cameras. These major concerns might outweigh the potential positive impacts of adopting this deterrence strategy. I am curious to hear other people’s thoughts on this topic!
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The Vancouver Police Department’s long-awaited rollout of its body-worn camera program in January is the first step in an expected massive increase in the use of the technology in B.C. Within a few years, nearly 10,000 officers in the province — including more than 1,400 with the Vancouver Police — could be wearing the cameras. Police forces in B.C. are joining in a growing trend across North America, with the body cameras meant to respond to a call for more police accountability and transparency and a belief the cameras will reduce the use of force by police — and against police. They are in use in many places in Canada already, including Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, and Saskatoon. Note - The above content was taken directly from the posted article with no edits.
