Rollout of body-worn cameras for RCMP officers delayed again

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The RCMP’s plan to equip its officers across the country with body-worn cameras is being further delayed.

The national police force decided in 2020 to start a body-worn camera program. The federal government’s 2020 fall economic statement committed $238.5 million over six years to implement the cameras and a digital evidence management system. An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 front-line officers would wear the cameras.

After field testing in rural, urban and remote communities in 2022, the rollout was originally planned for later that year.

But field tests only started in May 2023 after the RCMP awarded the contract to Motorola Solutions Canada earlier this year. Various RCMP detachments in Nova Scotia, Alberta and Iqaluit took part in the field testing, which continued into this past summer.

Now, after reviewing the tests, the Mounties are moving on to another vendor, further delaying the rollout.

“Following a thorough and multi-faceted evaluation of the field test, the RCMP has exercised its discretion under the contract to pivot to the next ranked bidder,” RCMP spokeswoman Robin Percival said in a Tuesday email to Postmedia.

The RCMP have now signed a contract with Axon Public Safety Canada Inc. for a field test that will start in January. The same detachments that took part in the last round of field testing will be used during the first field test.

“A successful field test is necessary for any further contract award to support rolling out the service on a national level,” said Percival.

RCMP say the body-worn cameras will improve public transparency and accountability, and allow the force to respond to concerns about policing from racialized and Indigenous communities.

The 2020 announcement by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki to fund the cameras came on the heels of footage of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on a handcuffed George Floyd for more than nine minutes during a May 25, 2020, arrest. Outrage over Floyd’s death during the arrest led to widespread protests over police brutality and racism.

Alberta’s Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis has said the province will require police officers across Alberta to wear body cameras in an attempt to improve police transparency.

A Public Safety and Emergency Services spokesman referred Postmedia’s request for comment on the delay to the RCMP.