The Dalmeny Police Service (DPS) is the latest in a growing number of law enforcement agencies utilizing body cameras.
The three-member municipal police service began using body cameras on Thursday, July 9.
According to Dalmeny Police Chief Scott Rowe, the move is aimed at ensuring transparency and public accountability.
“We started talking about acquiring body cameras last year,” said Rowe in an interview July 14. “And with recent events across North America, it seemed like a good time to implement this policy. We want to be ahead of the curve.”
Rowe said the Dalmeny Police Commission and Dalmeny Town Council both endorsed the purchase of body cameras for police officers.
“We found some room in our budget this year for two cameras, as well as the software,” said Rowe. “Because we always have two officers on duty; one for day shift and one for night shift; and one off-duty at any given time, the two cameras are sufficient for now. Next year we’ll look at acquiring a third camera.”
Rowe said the cameras provide a “real-time” record of interactions between the police and the public.
The officer dons the camera as soon as they begin their shift. They can begin recording by simply pressing a button.
At the end of each shift, the video and audio recordings from the camera are downloaded onto a secure computer. Each officer has their own unique profile programmed into the camera.
“It’s date-stamped automatically and has a watermark,” said Rowe. “You can’t tamper with it in any way.”
The DPS also has video and audio recording equipment in each of its vehicles.
Rowe said the Corman Park Police Service (CPPS) has been using body cameras for several years.
“Corman Park Police officers speak very highly of the cameras,” said Rowe. “The footage obtained using the cameras has proved very useful in court because it’s objective evidence of what actually happened.”
Rowe said having concrete video and audio evidence is invaluable for investigations into complaints about an individual officer’s conduct.
“If a police officer said something or did something wrong, they should be held accountable,” said Rowe. “That being said, if the allegation against the officer is untrue, that can be refuted just as quickly using the objective evidence of the recording.”
Rowe said not only are body cameras an excellent “evidence-gathering tool,” they also provide transparency and protection for both the public and police officers.
“As a small police department, the cost of acquiring and implementing the body cameras was not out of reach,” said Rowe. “It’s a different story for large police departments because the cost is very high.
“We’re glad to have them in place in our department.”