Vancouver mayor, councillors want body cameras for all VPD officers by 2025
On Tuesday, Vancouver’s new mayor and council will vote on a motion that would see every front-line VPD officer outfitted with a body-worn camera by the year 2025.
Coun. Lenny Zhou, with ABC Vancouver, is bringing the motion which will direct staff to begin costing out the cameras and data storage, and to return with a budget for the project by early 2024.
Body-worn cameras for Vancouver Police was an election campaign promise by Mayor Ken Sim's party that Zhou says the public supports, and he believes front-line officers will too.
“Chief Adam Palmer has advocated many, many times regarding the benefit of using the body-worn cameras,” said Zhou, who is concerned the only video the public can currently see of police interacting with suspects comes from bystanders’ cell phones.
“That’s exactly what’s important, to have a complete picture by the body-worn camera, and not the picture captured by very short clips of the incident,” he added.
Former West Vancouver Police Department chief Kash Heed agrees.
“In the day and age we are in right now, with all the interactions police have, with all the negative publicity police are garnering over any use of force – how could they not embrace something like this? Other organizations are doing it, we need to do it here in Vancouver,” said Heed.
Vancouver Police Department spokesperson, Const. Tania Visintin, says it’s something the force has looked into before.
“It’s always been a cost-prohibitive issue due to technology, data storage and what not,” she said.
As part of its first budget, the new council is also expected to fund a $200,000 pilot project on body-worn cameras for VPD officers. Visintin says a working group has been formed to look at concerns around cost and privacy.
“We are going to work with the Crown on issues around the privacy concern, and having people that aren’t criminals be on film. So there are still some kinks that need to be worked out, and that’s something that this working group will do in the pilot project,” she said.
Zhou is confident those kinks can and will be worked out.
“So many other countries have implemented this already,” Zhou said.
And he claims it’s been a huge success, pointing to a study out of California that found body-worn cameras led to an 88 per cent decrease in complaints against police officers.
“At the same time, the incidents of use of force by police deceased by 59 per cent, so this is the evidence-based approach we have been advocating for,” Zhou said.
Assuming the ABC-majority council approves the motion and the pilot project, some officers may be outfitted with body cameras in 2023. But it will likely be several years before they are standard issue with every VPD uniform.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Still so much love between us,' Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
What to know about avian influenza in dairy cows and the risk to humans
Why is H5N1, or bird flu, a concern, how does it spread, and is there a vaccine? Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about avian influenza.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
opinion The special relationship between King Charles and the Princess of Wales
Royal commentator Afua Hagan writes that when King Charles recently admitted Catherine to the Order of the Companions of Honour, it not only made history, but it reinforced the strong bond between the King and his beloved daughter-in-law.
Pro-plastic lobbyist presence at UN talks is 'troubling,' say advocates
Environmentalist groups are sounding the alarm about a steep increase in the number of pro-plastic lobbyists at the UN pollution talks taking place this week.
'Too young to have breast cancer': Rates among young Canadian women rising
Breast cancer rates are rising in Canada among women in their 20s, 30s and 40s, according to research by the University of Ottawa (uOttawa).
Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, shoots 81 in U.S. Open qualifier
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
$70M Lotto Max winners kept prize a secret from family for 2 months
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Courteney Cox says her partner Johnny McDaid once broke up with her in therapy
Courteney Cox's longtime partner Johnny McDaid once broke up with her in a therapy session.