Body worn camera ‘takes the subjectivity out’ of Calgary police complaints

The use of body worn cameras by the Calgary Police Service is helping speed along investigation of officer complaints.

At a Calgary Police Commission meeting Wednesday, Katherine Murphy, executive director of the Professional Standards Section (PSS), credited the bodycams with closing investigations of complaints against officers by 20 per cent when compared to the five-year average.

A report from PSS showed the cameras also decreased the average number of days it takes to close files through alternative dispute resolution by 28 per cent over the five-year average.

Despite the hundreds of hours it can take to review the footage, Murphy said the labour- and resource-intensive process is “entirely worth it” to help resolve complaints from members of the public.

In 2022, 39 per cent of PSS files used body worn camera footage. Through the first half of 2023, that increased to 52 per cent.

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“It is such a useful tool that we rely on so much, and it really takes the subjectivity out of the equation and really allows us to focus in,” Murphy said.

Dep. Chief Chad Tawfik said modern policing without body worn cameras would be “stepping way back.

“At the provincial level with the Ministry of Public Safety, there’s a strong emphasis on all agencies moving in this direction. We’re ahead of the game, fortunately,” Tawfik said.

The meeting heard that when the cameras were initially deployed in April 2019, some officers scoffed at their usefulness, likening them to “Big Brother.”

“Now many of our officers won’t go out without body-worn cameras,” Dep. Chief Katie McLellan said. “That’s how much we’ve come forward and how much the culture has changed, and how much our officers want that additional transparency.”

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Tawfik noted that there are very few exceptions within CPS policy for when officers can turn off their body worn cameras: when there are multiple officers on a scene using the cameras or when they clearly articulate why they are turning them off.

“If we see a file and we see deactivation of a body worn camera, we discipline for that in and of itself,” Murphy added. “So we have seen compliance with body worn camera increased significantly since it was rolled out in 2019.”

Police commission chair Shawn Cornett said the civilian oversight body has questioned CPS about their policy around turning a camera off since they were first introduced.

“It’s something that we have kept an eye on,” Cornett said.

Murphy said just over half of the complaint files have closed within a year, a 25-per cent increase compared to 2021.

There was a 19 per cent drop in the number of calls to PSS from citizens to either compliment or complain about officer conduct, and the number of complaints also dropped in 2022 when compared to the year before.

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Murphy noted that the number of complaints has returned to the five-year average levels, “a normalized state in terms of our numbers of complaints.”

She said while 90 per cent of complaints were resolved during the intake process, any complaint about an alleged use of excessive force is investigated.

The PSS executive director also shared outcomes of complaints about officers, saying 13 per cent resulted in discipline, 45 per cent were resolved informally, and the rest were not sustained, dismissed or withdrawn.

The most common form of misconduct in 2022 was insubordination at 36 per cent of “not serious” complaints, followed by discreditable conduct at 34 per cent. Use of force was observed at about nine per cent.

Complaints deemed “serious” went to hearings and, last year, there were 12 hearings involving 19 officers and 36 separate allegations of misconduct.

“The most common penalty for our officers for misconduct was an official warning at about 50 per cent,” Murphy said.

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“We also levy penalties that are financial in nature, and that means that we take away overtime hours from their pay bank or we suspend them without pay, or they are demoted, or in the most extreme cases, dismissed from the service.”

Murphy said the 2018 Arkinstall inquiry “really lit a fire to improve the way that we do things. And I’ve seen exceptional leadership by my team in professional standards to really think outside the box and come up with some creative process improvements.”

Tawfik said there had been a focus within CPS over the last few years on the types of conduct complaints.

“I do have to give credit to our members in how they respond to that and pay attention to the things that they see coming across the professional standards desk,” the deputy chief said. “We’ve done a fair bit of communication internally around what we’re seeing, and that helps educate our members around expectations and such.”

Murphy agreed that officers seem to be improving their conduct while policing.

“I do think it’s an indicator of performance. I think body worn camera probably plays a role in that, but I don’t take the results for granted.”