Anne Bertrand urges caution over police using body cameras

New Brunswick's privacy commissioner is cautioning police forces across the province to be careful with the implementation of body-worn cameras and to avoid intruding on citizens' privacy rights.

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The Bathurst council announced this week it would spend $60,000 to purchase body cameras for its municipal police force.

The announcement comes not long after two Bathurst police officers were charged with manslaughter after a man was shot to death in January.

Anne Bertrand, the province's privacy commissioner, issued guidelines in February that outlined issues that law enforcement agencies should consider when using body-worn cameras.

Bertrand said in an interview that she's not opposed to the technology but she does find the amount of personal information that is being collected by these cameras troubling.

"I don't tell law enforcement how to do their job," she said.

"What I am saying as privacy commissioner, is that if you feel that body-worn cameras are going to be an important element to how you dispense law enforcement in your community, then let the public know, be open and transparent about it, inform them and get good training. So that we keep that balance that citizens are made aware that their privacy is going to be intruded but is it a reasonable intrusion into their private lives."

Report outlines concerns

The commissioner's eight-page document for law enforcement agencies outlines several of Bertrand's concerns with the use of body cameras.

The privacy commissioner's report called for an appropriate public awareness campaign so that citizens are aware that if they see an officer in their community that it is possible that person could be recording them.

She said it's also important that officers are given the proper training on how to advise people that they are being recorded, how to safeguard the data and how to release the information when asked.

"They must protect their recordings too so citizens can find trust with those law enforcement officials that those recordings will be sacrosanct that they will not be tampered with," she said.

The use of body cameras is not new in Canada. Police forces in Toronto, Calgary and Montreal have adopted the technology.

The technology is not widely used in New Brunswick. Most of the province is policed by the RCMP, which is not using the cameras.

RCMP Sgt. Harold Pfleiderer, a media relations officer, said the national police force is still studying a pilot project that used the video recording devices.

"The RCMP continually reviews its policies, procedures and equipment to ensure it is using the most effective practices in law enforcement," Pfleiderer said in an email.

"This includes researching and on occasion, testing, new technology, if it is deemed to enhance public safety."

Officers face legal, disciplinary problems

The interest in police officers carrying body-worn cameras comes as several New Brunswick officers are finding themselves facing disciplinary hearings or criminal charges.

The Fredericton Police Force just dismissed one officer, three others are suspended and two are on active administrative duty.

There are nine RCMP officers who are suspended, including four RCMP officers from the Woodstock area who were suspended with pay on Tuesday for alleged discreditable conduct.

Michael Boudreau, a criminologist at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, said he believes the use of body cameras could help repair the trust that police officers may have lost with some members of the public.

Boudreau acknowledged the concerns over privacy but he said it might be worth the risk.

"There is an issue of privacy there. But I do think these have the potential to at least give the public an added insurance that if the police do act inappropriately, they will able to capture it," Boudreau said.

Edmundston police Chief Gilles Lee, the president of the New Brunswick Association of Chiefs of Police, said he also believes that body cameras could help out in boost public confidence in officers.

"It might help out. There is some concerns in the west, in Canada, regarding wearing body cameras. But we are basically in New Brunswick looking at that," he said.