Question Period Note: Royal Canadian Mounted Police - Use of Body-Worn Cameras

The RCMP has agreed to implement body-worn cameras nationally.

• It is critically important for Canadians to feel protected by the police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is committed to taking the necessary steps to enhance trust between the RCMP and the communities it serves.

• Body-worn cameras provide a first-person view of what a police officer encounters, oftentimes in highly dynamic and tense situations.

• We expect this initiative will improve transparency and accountability for police, which will lead to increased public trust and confidence, more timely resolutions of public complaints, and improved police and public behaviour.

• The Federal Government announced funding of $238.5 million over six years for this initiative through the 2021 Fall Economic Statement. The initiative is currently in the procurement phase and field-testing of cameras is anticipated to begin in early 2022, as part of a phased roll-out.

• This initiative will see over 10,000 cameras rolled-out across the country to general duty police officers who have direct interactions with communities.

• This is but one initiative under the RCMP’s broader strategy aimed at building trust and transparency with communities.

• The RCMP values the trust and confidence of Canadians, and will continuously strive to improve its services in support of public safety for all Canadians.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has been conducting limited pilot tests of body-worn cameras in operational and training environments since 2010.

In 2015, based on the results of the pilot tests and reviewing other research and studies, the RCMP conducted an extensive feasibility study on the potential implementation of body-worn cameras for RCMP officers. At the time, the technology still required advancement before it would be feasible to roll-out the technology across the country.

The technology has now advanced substantially and the cameras are being deployed in major police forces across Canada and internationally.

In the November 30, 2020 Fall Economic Statement, $238.5 million over 6 years, starting in 2020-21, and $50 million ongoing was announced to implement a National Body-worn Camera Program for frontline RCMP officers to improve transparency and accountability, and more effectively respond to concerns about policing from racialized and Indigenous communities.

Body-worn video provides increased transparency, while also providing a first-person view of what a police officer encounters, oftentimes in highly dynamic and tense situations.

The RCMP continually reviews its policies, procedures and equipment to ensure it is using the most effective tools in law enforcement. The RCMP has reviewed research and studies, has engaged with polices agencies in Canada and abroad, and has conducted a limited Body-Worn Camera pilot in “V” Division, to inform the implementation of body-worn video across the RCMP.

An agile procurement process has been used to advance this project and has involved significant and ongoing consultation with industry, including two Requests for Information, an Invitation to Qualify (ITQ) process, and the review and refine requirements (RRR) processes. The ITQ evaluation process concluded on August 9, 2021. Three (3) of the six (6) responses successfully met the mandatory evaluation criteria. Axon Public Safety Canada Inc., Getac Video Solutions Ltd., and Motorola Solutions Canada Inc. were provisionally qualified. These vendors are the leaders in the field. The RCMP and Public Services and Procurement Canada are currently engaged in the RRR process with the above noted vendors, prior to the Request for Proposal Launch (RFP).
Once the vendor has been selected through completion of the competitive procurement process, the RCMP plans to conduct a Field Test, starting with three locations (in a rural, northern, and urban setting) before implementing more broadly. This Field Test will be based on learnings from the body-worn camera pilot in Iqaluit. It will allow the RCMP an opportunity to test and adjust procedures and training materials before expanding the use of body-worn cameras to more geographical locations. It will take approximately 18 months for the majority of cameras to be rolled-out nationally. This approach will be further defined once a vendor is in place.
The RCMP is consulting with federal, provincial, territorial, and local contract partners and has begun to engage with stakeholders at the national and local levels as part of this initiative. This includes close engagement with the National Police Federation (NPF) who are supportive of this initiative.

The RCMP will continue to work closely with communities and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner to ensure any concerns he has are addressed.

This broader initiative supports the RCMP's Vision 150 modernization plan.

“V” Division Pilot
Nunavut RCMP officers in Iqaluit were equipped with body-worn cameras as part of a pilot project, which started in November 30th, 2020 and ended May 31st, 2021. The goals of this pilot project were to evaluate tools/processes and best practices with regard to existing technology in remote regions, as well as engage the community on perceptions and cultural acceptance with the technology; this pilot also served to identify best practices with regard to training and operational procedures related to privacy and handling of video, and to examine any impacts that body-worn cameras may have on public complaints, use of police interventions, and crime trends. Pilot evaluation survey results were generally positive. The majority of respondents (approx. 70%-80%) agreed that body-worn cameras increased their trust in the police and help the police be more transparent. The recommendations from the results of this pilot are being used to inform the development of the national initiative in areas including policy, training, equipment, and stakeholder/community engagement and consultation. A final report will be available in late Fall, 2021.

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