Manitoba RCMP is beginning the deployment of body-worn cameras for its police officers. As part of their ongoing efforts to be transparent and accountable to our communities, RCMP officers in Manitoba will start using body-worn cameras with Portage la Prairie scheduled for December 4. .
Between November 22 of this year and April next year, it is expected that over 490 Manitoba RCMP officers in 44 detachments will be equipped with body-worn cameras. The news release stated that this includes detachments that provide policing services to first nations communities.
All other detachments throughout Manitoba will have body-worn cameras and the digital evidence management system rolled out to them in a phased approach over the course of the next 18 months.
The RCMP notes that body-worn cameras can help increase trust between police and the communities they serve with video evidence collected providing an independent, unbiased, and objective way to capture interactions between the community and police officers. It will also help resolve public complaints more quickly, and improve evidence gathering.
RCMP officers will usually be wearing their body-worn cameras on their chest and the public will know it’s recording when a red light is visible and flashing below the lens of the camera.
Assistant Commissioner Scott McMurchy, Commanding Officer, Manitoba RCMP, explains communities have been asking for more accountability and transparency in policing, so, they're very pleased to say that the RCMP has listened and is deploying body-worn cameras throughout the province. The launch was announced Wednesday and demonstrates their commitment to enhancing the trust between the Manitoba RCMP and the communities they so proudly serve throughout the province.
