Police Cameras: The Truth Is Out There … Maybe

The Ottawa Police Service is delaying body cameras on officers until 2026.

The police say it is because of budget constraints. That might be true but then who has belonged to an organization that said it had too many resources? Everybody needs more … at least according to the people in the organization who aren’t paying the bills..

People have been pushing for OPS body cameras since about 2011. So there’s not a lot of OPS enthusiasm for the cameras, at least according to the decade and a bit of discussion on this. The cameras will not be perfect in establishing facts but then neither are officers necessarily. And who would want a camera on them while doing their job? We all make mistakes. What rational person would want their mistakes on video. What administration of an organization publicly funded and publicly scrutinized would want its organization’s troubles on video where the media (or at least what’s left of it) could see them, if they are released.

Covering your posterior in Canada’s most political town has attained unprecedented levels in recent times. No doubt there are some sons and daughters of politicos in the OPS who know the consequences of publicity. Body cameras create more and better evidence on criminals and police actions, too. The latter can be tricky so fervor for cameras might be in short supply.

The OPS did find an unknown amount of money to fund horses to patrol the ByWard Market. Unfortunately the horses seem to create that same barrier between the people and officers that cars do. And let’s face it, horses are fun, give good PR and they don’t file grievances. Still, were there ever a place where you’d want officers on foot, that would be the market where some immediacy and TLC are in order..

Now body cameras for the force cost about $400,000 and they aren’t as fun as horses. The horses’ cost is … ur … ah … well … something. But they do work for oats unlike their human counterparts. And carrots. A word of advice for the OPS, keep them away from the market food stalls.

As for the police budget, we applaud the service’s economizing though cameras might be a higher priority for residents than an equine troop.

Budgets are funny things. It’s all … you know … complicated.

Take the city for example. When Mayor Mark Sutcliffe wants transit money, the city is in the throws of a mighty fiscal crisis. Then the mayor pronounces that money-wise the city is OK. Subsequent to that, the budget is likely to weigh in at a 2.9-per-cent increase. Not exactly a crisis. That’s complicated, too.

So can the police budget handle ponies but not body cameras? It’s complicated.

The truth is out there … somewhere … maybe in the minds of a few, certainly not the many. Not completely in the innate rationality of your agent.

But one thing is certain. The year 2026 is a fair way off so people tend to forget things.

Maybe that’s the fate of body cameras..

Ken Gray

Bulldog editor Ken Gray has been a reporter and senior editor at five major Canadian newspapers over a career that has spanned four decades.

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