Piloting Body Worn Cameras in Iqaluit - Executive summary

In fall 2020, the Government of Nunavut, with support from the Government of Canada and the RCMP in Nunavut (V Division), expressed interest in conducting a body-worn camera (BWC) pilot in Iqaluit.

The goals of the pilot were to:

• engage and consult with the community throughout the implementation of BWCs
• assess community perceptions and cultural acceptance of officers responding to calls equipped with BWCs in remote and Indigenous communities
• identify issues and best practices regarding the use of BWCs using existing technology
• assess the impact of BWC implementation on administrative and operational outcomes, such as public complaints and the use of police intervention options
• solicit feedback from RCMP officers on their experience using BWCs

Consultations began in the summer of 2020. These included government officials and Indigenous leaders and organizations at both the local and national levels, as well as youth in Nunavut through the RCMP's National Youth Advisory Committee.

Following these consultations, the RCMP in Nunavut launched a public awareness campaign to promote the upcoming RCMP BWC pilot to the people of Iqaluit. This involved several platforms, including: posters, pamphlets, a webpage, media interviews, and press releases. This helped ensure information about the pilot reached as many people in Iqaluit as possible.

Key facts and figures from the pilot

• 53 RCMP officers wore BWCs on duty from November 30, 2020 to May 31, 2021
• 772 (14%) of the 5,421 police occurrences during this period were captured on 3,651 videos
• Videos averaged nine minutes in length
• The 525 hours of recorded video required approximately 1246 GB of storage
• Roughly six% of all the videos were redacted for court, with every minute of video requiring approximately four minutes to redact
• There were 17 external requests for the BWC policy

Community survey results

A total of 70 community members participated in the community survey and, overall, reported positive views of BWCs.

Most respondents "agreed" or "strongly agreed" that BWCs:

• increased their trust in the police (68.5%)
• helped the police to be more transparent (77.2%)
• increased public safety (61.5%)
• improved the relationship between the police and the community (61.4%)

Approximately one-third of respondents (35.8%) reported they "agreed" or "strongly agreed" that BWCs would reduce police use of force.

Almost all respondents (92.9%) agreed that they had no cultural, religious, or spiritual concerns with the use of BWCs in their community.

Some respondents raised concerns about the RCMP's BWC policy (e.g., when to turn BWCs on/off, privacy concerns with publicly releasing video footage); these issues are being considered and clarified in the development of national BWC policy.

A race-based analysis of the community survey responses found that there was an underrepresentation of Inuit respondents. In the future, a different approach using non-police and/or third-party data collection should be considered to improve response rates.

Three statistically significant differences were observed between respondents who identified as White and respondents who identified as Inuit:

• While just under one-third of white respondents (28%) reported believing that BWCs would reduce police use of force, 69% of Inuit respondents reported believing this
• Most White respondents reported "disagreeing" or "strongly disagreeing" that BWCs are an invasion of their personal (75%) and community privacy (81%), while fewer Inuit respondents reported "disagreeing" or "strongly disagreeing" with this statement (31% for personal privacy and 38% for community privacy)
• No White respondents reported having cultural, religious, or spiritual concerns with the use of BWCs in their community; however, 15% of Inuit respondents did

RCMP officer survey results

Participating officers were generally satisfied with the overall performance of the BWC, and indicated the cameras made them feel safer on the job.

Most officers (85%) supported adopting BWCs for all frontline officers. Concerns were raised regarding BWC equipment (e.g., battery life, video footage in low-light conditions); however, newer BWC models will address these issues.

Some concerns were also expressed regarding mounting the BWC onto body armour and outerwear. Officers also indicated some concerns with regard to BWC policy (e.g., privacy issues, clarity), which are being addressed in the development of national BWC policy.

Most officers reported that they did not observe a change in their behaviour or the behaviour of the public during the pilot project.

Operational and administrative outcomes

Other relevant statistics such as:

• crime trends,
• the use of officer intervention options (use of force),
• public complaints, and
• Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) requests

were also captured throughout the pilot. Data captured during the course of the pilot were compared with data from previous years and did not appear to significantly differ. However, it is difficult to fully assess the impact of BWCs on these trends due to the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns that occurred in Iqaluit during the pilot period. The RCMP will continue to analyse these trends as part of the broader national rollout.

Next steps

The RCMP's work towards rolling out BWCs and a Digital Evidence Management System (DEMS) across the country is ongoing. The initial test zones will be in a mix of remote, rural, and urban communities.

Iqaluit will be one of the first locations in Nunavut to receive the newly acquired tool and technology, once the national program is established.

The national rollout of BWCs will apply a culturally sensitive and consultative approach, similar to the approach undertaken for the pilot project, which considered the needs of remote Indigenous communities.

Representatives from the pilot working group are included in the national procurement and implementation process. Best practices from this pilot will inform consultative and engagement frameworks for the broader national BWC rollout.