The Saint John Police Force says all front-line officers will be wearing body cameras by the end of July — two years after the agency announced the devices were coming.
The force has 62 Axon Body 3 cameras on hand which, along with the software to run the devices, come with a price tag of about $770,000.
Inspector Tanya LeBlanc says the rollout began this week.
“There are two trainers on each shift and they were trained by Axon Public Safety Inc. staff,” she says.
“We did policy development, the members are trained on that policy, and there’s going to be a staggered rollout with the rest of our members.”
She says the force should have all the units it needs — meaning more won’t need to be purchased as the rollout expands.
Officers donning the device will do so for their full shift — but they LeBlanc says they won’t be recording the entire time.
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“In certain circumstances, the body-worn camera turns on automatically,” she says.
“When an officer turns on their lights and sirens the cameras turn on. If an officer removes their taser from their holster the body-worn cameras turn on also.”
In other instances, it’s up to officers to turn the devices on manually — turning them off at their discretion.
The devices don’t allow the officers to review footage in the field.
LeBlanc says they need to return to the station to do so through a secure platform.
She says the average officer will not have the ability to alter or delete anything recorded.
The devices and accompanying policy were presented to the city’s Board of Police Commissioners Tuesday but has been in the works since the initial announcement of the programs in July of 2020.
A time when calls for stringent police accountability were at an all-time high.
“There was an outcry from the community as we went through the Black Lives Matter movement,” says Joanna Killen, a city councillor who sits on the board.
Killen was a part of that conversation in Saint John, though she wasn’t yet a councillor.
She even publicly sparred with her predecessor over her desire to open the conversation around defunding police.
Killen says she’s comfortable with the cost of the bodycams in exchange for the accountability they may provide.
“Cost is significant,” she says.
“But it’s warranted based on community outcry at the level I see.”
Killen says she was happy to hear the acquisition of video evidence through the cameras could spare victims or witnesses from later having to appear in court — depending on the evidentiary value of the video and/or audio captured.
That’s a point LeBlanc also feels is important.
“It can be quite traumatizing to have to testify in court,” she says, “particularly if you’re a victim of crime.”
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