Police officers in the North Okanagan will soon be adding to their uniforms.
Body cameras will start rolling out at the end of April, the Vernon North Okanagan RCMP announced on Monday.
Const. Chris Terleski, RCMP media relations officer, told The Morning Star the initial rollout will take place over about 10 days and will include online and in-person hands-on training.
"Body worn cameras will be personal issue for uniformed frontline officers who are performing operational policing duties," Terleski said.
The objectives of adding body cameras are to strengthen transparency, accountability and public trust; resolve public complaints more quickly; improve interactions between the public and police; and improve evidence gathering, according to Terleski.
It's part of a nation-wide rollout spurred by the RCMP's modernization plan that's seeing police officers don body cameras and adopt a digital evidence management system across Canada. The deployment of this technology began in November 2024.
Between 10,000 and 15,000 body-worn cameras are expected to be deployed to contract and federal police officers in communities across remote, rural and urban Canada, the RCMP said, adding all frontline RCMP officers will be wearing the cameras once the national rollout is complete.
Officers will activate their body cameras during mental health calls, interactions with people in crisis, crimes in progress, investigations, public disorder and protests, and "to record information to support the performance of their duties," the RCMP said, adding the cameras are not meant for 24-hour recording, surveillance or when intimate searches are conducted.
