As demonstrators continue to protest against police brutality and systemic racism, demanding greater accountability for law enforcement officers in the wake of George Floyd's death, a Vancouver resident is campaigning to make body cameras mandatory for local police officers.
As of Thursday evening, June 11, Ben Leach's change.org petition, titled "Make Body Cameras for Police Officers Mandatory in Vancouver, BC & Canada" has garnered 5,644 signatures.
"As highlighted by recent events in Toronto, Canada and Minneapolis, America we are still experiencing tragedies that leave us wanting and reaching out for the truth. This want is eroding public trust in our police forces and we have the power to improve this," writes Leach on the petition's main page.
"The time has come that we can wait no longer to introduce Body Cameras for every front line officer here in Vancouver, in BC and in Canada as a whole. The technology is readily available and its time to make use of it."
In a phone interview, Leach said his interest in the topic stems from his childhood desire to one day be a police officer himself, coupled with recent events going on south of the border and around the world. "Just those two things combined prompted me to research a little bit into the Vancouver police department in particular, but Canada as a whole," he said. "And then I saw that they didn't have [cameras,] and I thought that it was something that should be done."
Leach's petition includes a list of perceived benefits associated with police use of body cameras, ranging from "Increasing public confidence and relations in local and national policing by ensuring there is an increased level of accountability," to "Changing the behaviour of the police officer, reducing the risk of abuse of power," and reducing "criminal justice costs due to [the video footage's] weight as evidence."
Leach is not the only individual calling for mandatory body cameras across the country. Another change.org petition seeking to make body cameras a requirement for RCMP officers from coast to coast has collected just under 25,000 signatures to date.
In an update posted to the petition, Leach said he "received official word" from the Vancouver Police Department on Monday.
According to Leach, the VPD shared that it had "researched the use of body-worn cameras as far back as 2012 and as recently as 2018.
According to the statement, "The technology remains largely cost prohibitive, as it requires significant capital and infrastructure costs to allow for data storage, maintenance and equipment. Further, there are concerns that the cameras provide a specific view that is unlikely to convey the totality of the situation; and there are privacy considerations for members of the public."
Despite "extensively reviewed body-worn cameras in the past," the VPD wrote that it is "always open for discussions on the viability of its implementation," adding, "A significant hurdle will undoubtedly be the extraordinary costs."
That statement came on the same day that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his plans to encourage provincial premiers to equip police with body cameras, after raising the issue with RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki earlier in the day. Following that call, Lucki said she agreed to begin outfitting some Mounties with the video cameras.
"As the Commissioner, I agree it is critically important for Canadians to feel protected by the police and am committed to take whatever steps are required to enhance trust between the RCMP and the communities we serve," the head of the RCMP said in a statement on Monday.
Leach acknowledges there is "a contrast" currently between the calls for costly body cameras and widespread demand for the defunding of police departments.
"I agree with a lot of the sentiment behind those [calls for defunding], but money could definitely be used in better ways when investing in police forces," he said.
"Knowing how police forces work, the whole defunding, etcetera, is going to take time - it's not going to be something that happens overnight," Leach continued.
"For me, the body cameras can be something that can be brought in, to kind of help that transition, almost. It's going to cause issues moving forward - if you start removing things from the police department, then that's going to cause issues in itself, [including] the potential for even more misuse of power."
