Review sought after officer kills BC woman in New Brunswick

[Bruce Monkhouse]

I agree....the public would be in for a rude awakening when all those pre-concieved notions go out the window.  When we brought in cameras to record ICIT activations I was skeptical, but after watching the recording of a practice activation, I was sold on it.  My written words did no justice to the threat/scare factor that the practice inmate was giving off.  There was no doubt that an outsider would go from reading our reports and asking "why did you do that?" to "how did you guys even go in there?".

 

[Jarnhamar]

RCMP watchdog's misconduct reports caught in limbo, stalling their release

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/rcmp-watchdogs-misconduct-reports-caught-in-limbo-stalling-their-release/ar-BB159mrt

Interesting read about the misconduct complaint process.
At the end of the day if the top RCMP member says 'don't care' then it's case closed.

 

[Eaglelord17]

I work for a Police Service and unfortunately this isn't as easy as everyone makes it seem. Toronto PS had been the pilot project for body cams here in Ontario for awhile, the recent events with the woman who fell off her balcony trying to escape police just expedited the timeline for that it seems.. There's a huge back end that goes into it, you literally need an entire unit dedicated to the storing and retrieval of the footage, as well as the huge tech end of the equation - storing terabytes upon terabytes of footage for court proceedings. I am all for body cams though, I know a lot of people who would be able to do their jobs with a lot more confidence with them..I don't think the body cams are going to tell the story that the media wants to hear though, in fact probably quite the opposite..

Body Cams are a amazing thing. They usually work in the officers favour. Like that one woman who claimed she was sexually assaulted by the cop, and it turns out she offered to have sex with him if he let her go, and he didn't do that or anything remotely wrong.

They also catch the bad apples on tape, planting of evidence, excessive use of force, corruption. Having a camera on everyone makes things much safer for all involved.

 

[Cloud Cover]

Of course they will tell the whole story, at which point people will be screaming for them to be removed or switched off.

 

[Retired AF Guy]

I agree....the public would be in for a rude awakening when all those pre-concieved notions go out the window.  When we brought in cameras to record ICIT activations I was skeptical, but after watching the recording of a practice activation, I was sold on it.  My written words did no justice to the threat/scare factor that the practice inmate was giving off.  There was no doubt that an outsider would go from reading our reports and asking "why did you do that?" to "how did you guys even go in there?".

"ICIT activations." Is this the moving of a troublesome inmate who is surrounded by guards and videotaped whenever they are moved?

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Yes  sorry.  In Ontario it stands for Institutional Crisis Intervention Team. Anything from riots to moving problematic inmates.

 

[Haggis]

Body Cams are a amazing thing.

The PM seems to think so, now, too.  He has raised the issue with the RCMP Commissioner already and will raise it again with the Premiers later this week.

 

[Kat Stevens]

The PM seems to think so, now, too.  He has raised the issue with the RCMP Commissioner already and will raise it again with the Premiers later this week.

My ever so tiny cynical side can't help but add "at least until they don't show what he wants them to show".

 

[Ironman118]

My ever so tiny cynical side can't help but add "at least until they don't show what he wants them to show".

It's actually kind of funny because here we have protesters that are yelling for Police to be equipped for body cams in just the last week...we've been wanting them for YEARS...so thanks, I guess, for speeding things up.

 

[Jarnhamar]

The PM seems to think so, now, too.  He has raised the issue with the RCMP Commissioner already and will raise it again with the Premiers later this week.

I don't body cameras will really fix anything if misconduct investigations (with video) still take 10 months or years to investigate.

 

[Ironman118]

I don't body cameras will really fix anything if misconduct investigations (with video) still take 10 months or years to investigate.

SIU investigations / misconduct are completely different than a woman accusing an officer of sexually assaulting her and being able to check the camera and immediately see that her whole story is fake - and in full context..not a 5 second snippet of "blue man bad", as an example. Especially if the media is accusing 7 guys of throwing a woman off a balcony and protests are imminent. You could release the footage and inform the public that it didn't happen, avoiding deaths, property damage, etc.

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas-news/charges-possible-for-woman-who-falsely-accused-dps-trooper-of-sex-assault-da-says/287-557630062

 

[Jarnhamar]

[quote author=Ironman118]
SIU investigations / misconduct are completely different than a woman accusing an officer of sexually assaulting her and being able to check the camera and immediately see that her whole story is fake -
[/quote]

Shit ya. Getting accused of inappropriate (or criminal) behavior is a constant threat for police I'd guess. Shitty for cops to operate in that environment 24/7. Cameras will probably save a lot of tax payer dollars and careers too I bet.

 

[lenaitch]

Of course they will tell the whole story, at which point people will be screaming for them to be removed or switched off.

And that kind of raises an interesting point of the policy that will surround their use; i.e. when they need to be activated.  The noisy voices say 'always' because the police can't be trusted, ignoring some very obvious concerns of privacy.  I

It will be interesting to see how they perform hung on the outside of a Mountie's arctic park in February in Iqaluit.

 

[Haggis]

The noisy voices say 'always' because the police can't be trusted, ignoring some very obvious concerns of privacy.

Not to mention the data storage requirements from filming and archiving 12 hours of boring one-officer patrols in the middle of nowhere.  Plus there is the privacy risk of inadvertently recording an officer's lunchtime telephone call with their lover or innocuous recording of identifiable bystanders while the officer get a snack or recording their PIN as they use an ATM.

It will be interesting to see how they perform hung on the outside of a Mountie's arctic parka in February in Iqaluit.

  Probably the same as they work in Fairbanks, Alaska. We're not the only nation to have cops in the hinterland.

 

[blacktriangle]

What kind of data retention period is typically applied to footage from body cams?

Is the footage actively reviewed on an on-going basis? Or is it only queried if required to support an investigation or allegation?

 

[Haggis]

What kind of data retention period is typically applied to footage from body cams?

Is the footage actively reviewed on an on-going basis? Or is it only queried if required to support an investigation or allegation?

The short answer is that it depends on the jurisdiction.  The Privacy Commissioner has already issued guidance on the use of body cameras in Canada. Because body cameras capture personal information, the retention period is left up to the provinces and, in some cases, governed under municipal by-laws.

 

[lenaitch]

I would think a police service's retention of camera records will mimic their policy for communications recordings, which is generally in the order of 2 to 3 years but, as mentioned, it will be local policy unless the province steps in.  Any video linked to a particular investigation will be copied and added to the case file and form part of the disclosure package if charges are involved.

I can't imagine any useful purpose purpose of paying somebody to sit and watch hours of recorded video with no particular goal.

I am aware that police in chillier climes (Calgary) operate body cameras, although not Fairbanks AK PD - thanks for that.  Must be tough on batteries.  I wonder how they deal with fogging when moving from cold to warm.

 

[mariomike]

I am aware that police in chillier climes (Calgary) operate body cameras,

Regarding that,

https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk005ccsG33C-0gy8_lFgBY5oQthWag%3A1591710368537&ei=oJLfXomxINqqytMP8JOvoAM&q=%22calgary+police%22+%22body+cameras%22&oq=%22calgary+police%22+%22body+cameras%22&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQAzIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB4yBggAEBYQHjIGCAAQFhAeOgQIABBHOgYIABAHEB46CAgAEAgQBxAeOgYIABANEB46CAgAEAgQDRAeOgQIABANOgUIABDEAjoGCAAQCBAeUIcmWPhMYOJQaABwAXgAgAGpAYgBhAiSAQMwLjeYAQCgAQGqAQdnd3Mtd2l6&sclient=psy-ab&ved=0ahUKEwiJgeiY7_TpAhValXIEHfDJCzQQ4dUDCAs&uact=5#spf=1591710381227

 

[blacktriangle]

The short answer is that it depends on the jurisdiction.  The Privacy Commissioner has already issued guidance on the use of body cameras in Canada. Because body cameras capture personal information, the retention period is left up to the provinces and, in some cases, governed under municipal by-laws.

Interesting, thank you.

Reviewing the footage is ultimately a data problem. I'm not suggesting that someone needs to sit down and watch every minute. Technology could potentially be leveraged to bring pertinent footage to the attention of a reviewing officer/analyst. It might also serve to deter conduct that is less than professional.

 

[OldSolduer]

Interesting, thank you.

Reviewing the footage is ultimately a data problem. I'm not suggesting that someone needs to sit down and watch every minute. Technology could potentially be leveraged to bring pertinent footage to the attention of a reviewing officer/analyst. It might also serve to deter conduct that is less than professional.

Body cams also will show who the idiots are that are yelling obscenities at the police, baiting them and perhaps even assaulting them.