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Body cameras at work in North Battleford

Feb 12, 2016 | 6:03 AM

While Meadow Lake’s bylaw officer waits for his body camera, community safety officers in North Battleford are one step ahead.

Currently the officers in the city use a two-camera system that includes a body camera as well as one mounted in their vehicle.

Fire Chief Albert Headrick who is in charge of the community safety officer program, said in a phone interview using both cameras ensures there are no doubts about what happened when one of the officers engages with the public.

“They’ll have the body cam on their jacket and plus the ones in the car. The ones in the car activate when their lights go on when they’re pulling someone over for a violation, that’s when the cameras activate. The ones on their vests only get activated when they’re going to be engaged in some kind of situation,” Headrick explained.

He added the cameras are there for the protection of the officer, as well as the protection of the individual being stopped. Headrick said an added bonus of the cameras is simply, their presence can cool things down when an officer is engaging with the public.

“They have the obligation to inform the person that they’re probably in confrontation with that they’re being recorded. And what that usually does is de-escalates the conflict to some degree.”

Headrick also said there have also been instances when someone wishing to dispute a ticket has seen the camera footage and instead decided to just pay the fine.

Currently the city has 3 of the $1,000 body cameras in their inventory.

 

cstockwell@jpbg.ca