Manitoba RCMP roll out bodycams; Shoppers Drug Mart, Superstore testing tech

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This article was published 17/03/2025 (207 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Despite struggles to get body-worn camera tech working in remote areas, one-third of Manitoba RCMP officers have been fitted with cameras since a nation-wide roll-out began in November.

Manitoba detachments’ efforts have been complicated by the wide disparity of internet service and cabling infrastructure across the province, said Steve Rogers, RCMP Manitoba’s body-worn camera delivery manager.

While some rural areas, such as Thompson, Grand Rapids and Gillam already had good infrastructure in place, many others, including remote First Nations communities, don’t have the bandwidth to handle the data collection of thousands of hours of camera footage and the digital evidence management system that is being introduced with the cameras.

Manitoba’s infrastructure gaps were, in some areas, comparable to those seen in the northern territories, Rogers said.

“We needed to do something to kind of equalize the services we offer,” he said Monday.

“There’s a lot of First Nations up north that don’t have that proper infrastructure that exists, and normally we’ve used commercial means, so we had to figure out a way to get the service to the people here, because it’s not fair to them.”

The program has pivoted from the original plan of setting up new landlines in these communities to installing Starlink routers tasked with handling body-camera data, described by Rogers as a quicker and less-expensive route.

That shift has allowed them to roll out body cameras at a higher rate than originally planned. There are currently 223 RCMP officers (or about 35 per cent of the force) fitted with body cams across 26 detachments and two traffic units, with 73 communities scheduled to get the technology before July 1.

There have been more than 13,000 videos uploaded to the RCMP’s digital evidence management system, along with 4,411 images and 288 audio statements since the rollout began.

While still in its early stages, Rogers said the new program is already saving officers time and moving policing into the modern age.

“We can share (evidence) electronically, straight to (the) Manitoba Prosecution (Service)… officers don’t have to physically go somewhere to pick up a USB, like to a gas station, if someone didn’t pay for their gas, right? So there are some time savings,” he said.

“We don’t have to make physical copies of that evidence anymore, burn it to a DVD and then mail it to a Crown office.”

The federal government has promised $238.5 million over six years and $50 million in ongoing funding for the cameras, which are provided through a subscription service by Axon, a U.S.-based weapons and technology company.

The cameras cost approximately $3,000 each.

Meanwhile, a major retailer is testing staff-worn cameras.

Some employees at three Shoppers Drug Marts (1155 Main St., 43 Osborne St. and 43 Marion St.), along with Real Canadian Superstore locations at 2132 McPhillips St. and 1578 Regent Ave., joined a pilot project in February to “help de-escalate situations and create a safer experience for both customers and colleagues,” a spokesperson for parent company Loblaw said in an email.

”Only trained asset protection representatives, third-party security, store management and additional team members where applicable will be wearing the cameras,” the spokesperson said.

“Participation in this pilot is voluntary. If the footage is not required for investigation, it is deleted as soon as possible.”

At least one staff member was wearing a camera at the Osborne Shoppers Drug Mart.

“It’s safeguard for the employees, because they have proof that they haven’t done anything crazy, and a safeguard for the regular public.”– Joan Gillis, a shopper at the Osborne Shoppers Drug Mart

“It’s safeguard for the employees, because they have proof that they haven’t done anything crazy, and a safeguard for the regular public, if there is something, then there’s evidence of something,” shopper Joan Gillis said after walking out of the store.

Local grocery chain Food Fare co-owner Munther Zeid said, if it was affordable, he’d consider doing the same for his own businesses.

“When you’re dealing with people, the biggest issue sometimes is the store cameras,” he said. “They come in, they sort of are paying attention to cameras, they’re trying to avoid their faces from being seen on the cameras.”

While body cameras have been touted as a safety and accountability tool, skeptics say the data collected over the past two decades shows there isn’t any correlation between body cameras and better policing.

“Surveillance is not going to fix this pattern of people being hungry, of people needing basic necessities to help their families.”– Kevin Walby, criminal justice associate professor at the University of Winnipeg

“There’s no criminological evidence that they’re effective, that they have any efficacious effect,” said Kevin Walby, an associate professor in the department of criminal justice at the University of Winnipeg.

Private-sector retailers putting body cameras on workers is a worrisome example of overt surveillance encroaching another part of everyday life, he said.

“Surveillance is not going to fix this pattern of people being hungry, of people needing basic necessities to help their families,” he said.

“Surveillance isn’t going to help those people at all — it might hurt them, if they get criminalized, if they get sent to jail as a result of this more hyper-vigilant surveillance context that we’re creating.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca