A newly-formed political party in Vancouver is promising that if they get a majority on council, it will request that the Vancouver Police Board implement the use of body-worn cameras for all Vancouver police officers on patrol.
ABC Vancouver said this measure would start no later than summer 2025.
“As technology and best practices evolve, so must the City of Vancouver,” ABC Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung said in a statement. “Body-worn cameras will help improve transparency and accountability while protecting the safety of front-line police officers.”
There have been calls for Vancouver police officers to wear body cameras for a few years now.
RCMP officers across the country will be getting body-worn cameras as part of its 150-anniversary campaign in 2023.
The organization said between 10,000 and 15,000 cameras will be sent across the country.
Locally, the Delta Police Department launched a body-worn camera pilot project two years ago. The department now has 16 cameras available for officers and is considering expanding the program to other sections.
“Body-worn cameras in other jurisdictions have greatly reduced legal costs for police departments, decreased investigation times, and have created certainty in those investigations,” said Brian Montague, ABC council candidate and a 28-year VPD veteran who previously served as VPD spokesperson.
“Body-worn cameras are broadly supported by rank-and-file members and many community groups. Their usefulness in training cannot also be understated.”
When asked about the issue, Vancouver political party Forward Together’s executive director Mark Hosak said in a statement that it will be releasing its own platform in the coming weeks, which “will allow voters to know where (they) stand on these and other issues.”
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Matthew Norris, OneCity Vancouver city council candidate and member of Lac La Ronge First Nation, told Global News he does not agree with ABC’s approach.
“While more transparency is always welcome, the evidence shows that body cameras have a minimal effect on deterring excessive use of force – or ensuring police accountability,” he said.
Norris added that in order to build a “truly safe city” councils must invest in “community-led safety approaches and end the concentration of poverty on the Downtown Eastside by building social and supportive housing everywhere.”
COPE city council candidate Tanya Webking also disagrees with the implementation of body-worn cameras.
“This proposal seems aimed at undermining the efforts for community-led safety while ensuring that police budgets continue to balloon. We need to transition away from using police in the areas of homelessness, mental health, drug use, and sex work, not spend more on taxpayer-funded colonial violence,” she said in a statement.
Fellow council candidate Breen Ouellette agreed, saying body cameras will “only further bloat” the city’s police budget.
“Existing research on police body cameras is inconclusive on their ability to increase police accountability. Vancouver would be wise to postpone spending tens or hundreds of millions on body cameras before proven police accountability measures have been adopted,” he added.
NPA Vancouver said in a statement that it does support policies that build trust between police and the public but “would ensure stakeholders are fully consulted before developing or announcing this type of policy.”
Green party candidate Pete Fry told Global News he is concerned about the cost of providing, monitoring and storing body-camera footage.
“With the effectiveness of body cameras, the verdict is out on the effectiveness of body cameras,” he told Global News over the phone. “So certainly accountability is important. We also recognize that policing already used up a pretty significant chunk of the City of Vancouver’s budget.”
Fry said he thinks more of a case needs to be made for the effectiveness of the cameras versus the cost.
The B.C. municipal election is taking place on Oct. 15, 2022.
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