‘Seat belt off. Camera on’: Yorkton RCMP now issued body cameras

WATCH: Body cameras are being delivered to RCMP detachments across the province, including Yorkton. Fruszina De Cloedt has a look at the new tool.

Staff Sgt. Burton Jones holds a small, black rectangular device, about the size of a modern smartphone. In addition to a set of three small green lights on one side, a large lens marks the centre of the device.

It’s a variable body camera, one of approximately 500 in the province. Yorkton RCMP received the new tools earlier this month, increasing accountability for officers.

“It’s also for them as well, right?” Burton explained, referring to the officers on the other end of the camera. “Because now, we also hope that the body worn cameras will help us with the public complaints as well against members – and hopefully curb any false or vexatious complaints against members, because there’ll be a very, very detailed recording of what kind of interact[ion] would happen.”

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RCMP in Fort Qu’Appelle was among the first to receive the equipment in the province. The rollout began in November of 2024 with the goal of outfitting 1,000 officers per month.

By April, 50 per cent of cameras across the nation were scheduled to be in service – with the full rollout expected to take 12-18 months.

Between 10,000 and 15,000 body cameras are expected to be deployed in total.

The RCMP has a written policy on the use of the variable cameras. It states that cameras should be on whenever members attend calls for service.

“The training message that we’re giving to the members is ‘seat belt off, camera on,’” Jones added. “So, if they’re heading to a call and they pull up – the camera turns on. Seat belt comes up, they go out, and they deal with that in the interaction.”

Police are aware of the privacy concerns, reminding the public that cameras are not equipped with facial recognition or biometric software.

Yorkton Mayor Aaron Kinley says community safety officers are already wear body cameras.

“It’s a good thing to protect our residents. If there’s a dispute between the officer and one of our residents, they can always look back on footage and kind of straighten that.”

Body cameras were officially deployed in Yorkton on April 21 – so it remains too early to effectively gauge their impact on public safety and officer accountability.