Ottawa police could soon wear body cameras, but not everyone's convinced

As Ottawa's police union lauds a proposal in its draft 2023 budget to outfit the force's officers with body cameras, one expert warns the technology won't do much to change the culture of policing.

The budget unveiled last month proposes to spend $400,000 on what the Ottawa Police Services Board calls "digital information and evidence management" technology.

That could include body cameras, which the budget claims would boost trust in the police force, help investigate complaints complaints about officer behaviour and provide the "best evidence."

"It will [lead] to transparency and accountability. It will improve the interactions between police and members of the public on a day-to-day basis," said Matthew Cox, president of the Ottawa Police Association.

Ottawa police have advocated for body cameras for more than a decade, said Cox, a self-described "big supporter" of the technology.

But issues such as the cost of data storage have always gotten in the way, he told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning.

Already in other cities

If the spending is approved, Ottawa's police force would become just the latest in Canada to be equipped with the technology.

Toronto police began wearing body cameras in 2020, while Vancouver city council approved a plan last year to have officers outfitted with cameras by 2025.

Despite arguments that cameras will enhance accountability and make the public feel more safe, there's little scholarly evidence suggesting that's the case, said Kevin Walby, an associate professor in criminal justice at the University of Winnipeg.

Walby cited a meta-analysis — essentially, a study analyzing previous studies — published in 2020 by researchers in Australia and the U.S. that concluded body cameras had no "consistent" effect on the behaviour of police officers or citizens.

Walby told Ottawa Morning that the limited perspective of a camera worn on an officer's body isn't as valuable as video taken from a wider angle by bystanders.

Officers may also feel they can go "right up to the line" when they have to use force —  and often use more than is strictly necessary — because they know the cameras will record their actions and they'll be vindicated, Walby said.

"They're tools of legitimation," he said.

"When police are in crisis, when police are feeling all of these forms of resistance from the community, when the community is actually calling for defunding of police — then police turn to these body cameras, because they allow them to have a little bit more of a budget line."

'Better than no video at all'

Walby also noted the presence of body cameras failed to avert the beating death of Tyre Nichols, a Black motorist who died in January after a confrontation with Memphis police officers during a traffic stop.

But Cox told Ottawa Morning he believed the cameras were integral in the five officers being fired and charged with second-degree murder as quickly as they were.

And while body cameras may not capture the entire scene, images recorded by bystanders can also be manipulated, he argued.

"I think picking up some video is better than no video at all," Cox said. "And that's presently what we have right now, is no video."

The public can still weigh in on the budget through a questionnaire, or offer comments directly at the board's Feb. 27 meeting. Council's final vote on the budget is slated for March 1.