Beginning Monday, select Edmonton Police Service (EPS) officers will begin wearing body cameras.
In March, the UCP government mandated the use of body-worn cameras by all police officers. Working towards this mandate, the EPS is set to begin a six-month trial of the cameras starting next week.
Officers will wear the camera, which will be equipped with a microphone and internal data storage on their head or chest.
“Body-worn cameras create greater accountability while providing a first person view of what an officer encounters in a highly dynamic and tense situation,” Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis said at the time.
EPS Chief Dale McFee said “increasing transparency and legitimacy in cameras is something we have always supported and will support,” but didn’t expect to make footage public “when there’s no reason to.”
A similar three-year Edmonton pilot ended in 2014, with officials citing logistics and video management as too expensive.
At its recent annual general meeting, the Alberta Association of Police Governance resolved to ask the province to fund the start-up costs and “a significant portion” of the annual operating costs of cameras when it becomes mandatory for all law enforcement in Alberta to wear one.
According to the association, Calgary’s camera rollout cost $1.3 million and about $5 million annually to run.
Calgary Police Service says police cameras have cut the average police conduct investigation time in half.
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