Body-Worn Camera Policy in Canadian Policing

Body-worn cameras (BWCs) are increasingly permeating policing worldwide. Through a survey of all federal, provincial, municipal, and First Nations police services across Canada, we find that 36 of 172 Canadian police services reported using BWCs as of 2022. We also present a scorecard-style assessment of all available Canadian BWC procedures in use (N = 27), documenting the extent to which the procedures address core issues related to BWC regulation. Key themes of the procedures fall into six general categories: expectations of the BWC program, expectations of BWC users, expectations of BWC supervisors, data retention and storage expectations, video disclosure expectations, and additional considerations. The procedures conveyed a good deal of consistency. Almost all procedures provided activation instructions, required subject notification as soon as reasonably possible, did not allow BWC footage to substitute for other forms of evidence, and permitted users to view BWC footage. However, some topics are broached far less consistently, with a minority of procedures commenting on camera buffering, victim-sensitive practices, and making disclosures in the public interest. We advocate for the continued standardization of BWC procedures across Canada (and mechanisms of police governance more generally) to support consistent, high-quality policing across the country.