RCMP prepares to deploy body cameras to thousands of officers nationwide

Thousands of RCMP officers will start wearing body cameras over the coming months, marking a pivotal shift in how Mounties and Canadians interact.

The long-anticipated nationalrolloutofbody camerasis happening in stages, the RCMP said Thursday. Startingnext week, Mountiesat selected detachments will start carrying body-worn cameras on their chests. The audio and video will be uploaded and maintained on a digital evidence management system.

Over the next nine months, roughly 1,000 frontline RCMP officersper monthwill deploy with Axon Public Safety Canada Inc.'s cameras.The force estimates that 90 per cent of frontline members will be using body-worn cameras bythis time next year, and full deployment will be complete in the next 12 to 18 months.

Officials are expected to take questions about the camera program Thursday afternoon.

Other police agencies in Canada already use the technology. But the size and unique mandate of the RCMP which, alongside its federal policing responsibilities, delivers provincial, regional and local police services in many parts of the country makes thisthe largest and most ambitious rollout.

The RCMP'snational profile also likely means its program will attract added scrutiny over when the cameras are used and who gets access to the footage.

According to RCMPpolicy, the cameras have to be on and recording during service calls,including ongoing crimes and investigations, mental health calls and protest response.

The cameras won't be used during strip searches or body cavity searches, or in settings with "a high expectation of privacy," such as washrooms, hospitals andtreatment centres, said the RCMP.

The RCMP has said it might proactively disclose footage from a body-worn camera "where it is in the public interest to do so." Members of the public can request footage taken of them through the Privacy Act.

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 were erupting around the worldin the wake of George Floyd's death in police custody in Minneapolis that year.

The force originally planned to roll out the cameras in 2021, but it took longer than expected to award the first contract and conduct pilot testing in the field. Last year, the RCMP announced it was moving on to another vendor, further delaying the rollout.

Detachments in Nova Scotia, Nunavut and Alberta already have deployed the cameras forfield testing.

The federal government has committed nearly $240 million over six years to get the program running and $50 million annually in operating funding.