Winnipeg police officers to wear body cameras

Winnipeg police officers are expected to be outfitted with body-worn cameras in June. A Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officer turns off a body camera during a demonstration at a news conference in Surrey B.C., on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

Winnipeg Police Chief Gene Bowers says officers will be wearing body cameras this summer.

“We’re going to mobilize it through the front-line members,” he said.

After years of debate and false starts, Bowers told the police board Friday that 40 officers will be outfitted with body cameras starting in June.

The program is a pilot project that will run through the summer, with the aim of expanding throughout the front-lines.

Bowers says this will help improve accountability and transparency.

“Anytime there’s a critical incident that occurs, the first thing we’re looking for is video, so I think it’s incumbent on us to provide that video,” he said.

Police board chair Colleen Mayer says the board supports the trial.

“It would allow for better reporting and understanding of what happened on those events,” she said.

Winnipeg Police Association President Cory Wiles says the union is not opposed to the program, but he has concerns about the cost.

Past attempts to do this have failed.

An estimate five years ago put the price to equip all officers at $32 million over six years.

“Is that better spent as resources on the ground?” said Wiles “You know, there’s demands against our officers. We find them in hospitals now.”

RCMP officers in Manitoba already have cameras.

Bowers says there is no cost to the service for the pilot because of an agreement with the company that provides the cameras.

He added the cost to do this on a wider scale has significantly dropped since the last attempt.

“The technology has advanced so much. Like anything, the prices go down,” he said.

There are members of the public who could also have concerns about their privacy.

Bowers stresses Canada is not the U.S. where video like this is made public.

“The expectation that we’d be releasing all this video, that doesn’t happen in Canada because there’s privacy issues that go with that.”