Video cameras to keep eye on Canadian cops

TORONTO - Canadia’s federal police may carry video cameras pinned to their uniforms to record their dealings with the public and keep an eye out for high-handedness and corruption, says a parliamentary report released Monday.

If the report by a senate (upper house of the Canadian parliament) committee on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is accepted, street cops may have a video camera on their uniform or wear it as an earpiece to record all their dealings. The camera will automatically turn on when the cop encounters any member of the general public - whether a criminal or help seeker. The recordings could be used as evidence in court cases.

Numbering 30,000, the RCMP is the central police force of Canada, deployed across the country. Unlike the Indian police forces, it enjoys enormous powers, with no direct accountability to political leaders. In recent years, the force has come under criticism for its high-handedness in dealing with the public, including the death by Taser stun guns of a newly arrived Polish immigrant at Vancouver airport more than two years ago.

If the recommendation to install cameras on the uniforms of RCMP cops is accepted, it will become the second police force in North America to implement it.

Only the San Jose Police Department in California has introduced the camera scheme in December on a pilot basis to know its effectiveness.

According to Senator and report author Colin Kenney, technology has advanced to such levels that it is now possible to record every activity of the cops.

The benefits will outweigh the costs and the plan will instil public confidence in the police force, he said.

But a senior police official aired his objections to the proposal, saying it will raise issues of privacy violations by cops. It may also not be possible to protect police sources, the official said.

(Gurmukh Singh can be contacted at gurmukh.s@ians.in)