Cranbrook Mayor Wayne Price is pleased to see the local detachment included in the first phase of the B.C. RCMP’s body-worn camera rollout.
RCMP officials say about 300 cameras will be distributed to frontline police in Mission, Tofino, Ucluelet, Cranbrook and the Cranbrook British Columbia Highway Patrol, Kamloops and Prince George beginning November 24.
Price says he’s glad to see Cranbrook’s police included as early adopters of the new tech.
“It’s coming out across Canada regardless. Part of this pilot project is to identify any glitches, problems or ways they can improve,” said Price.
“I have not heard of a firm price of what it’s going to cost us yet, and I’m assuming that’s part of this pilot. We’re part of it and we’re going to be there anyway, so now we’ll have a first-hand understanding of the program.”
However, Price says the city is unsure of the budget implication of the new cameras.
“I believe right now there’s been a certain amount of money from the government set aside for this and we don’t know if the cost of the actual program exceeds that,” said Price.
“We see this every year in budgets: something will come along that is a mandatory budgetary item and we just have to find a way to make it work.”
Police estimate each device to cost $3,000 per user each year, with the Federal Government covering $50 million per year.
Price says the new cameras will be useful for police investigations and transparency.
“We’ll get a real live account of a situation that members are involved in. They can go back in their recordings when they’re doing their reports, so reporting will be more accurate,” said Price.
“It could result in more convictions. With better reporting, they’ll have easier convictions.”
Deployment of the new body-worn cameras will take place over the next year, with RCMP officials expecting almost all frontline RCMP officers to have cameras by early 2026.
Be the first to know! Don’t miss out on breaking news and daily updates in your area. Sign up to MyEastKootenayNow News Alerts.
