Fredericton police officers will be responsible for deciding when to turn their body cameras on and off while out on duty, the city's deputy police chief says.

This follows a policy from the force's three-month body camera pilot project in 2017 and applies to the five-year contract for body cameras the force will purchase this year.

We feel that our officers have the professional maturity to determine what investigational contact is. - Martin Gaudet, deputy Fredericton police chief

In April, city councillors approved a $115,000 agreement with Axon Public Safety Canada Inc., for six body cameras and new digital audio-visual recording equipment to upgrade interview rooms at police headquarters.

"The cameras are turned on during investigational contacts," said Martin Gaudet, the deputy chief.

Body cameras are being used by police forces in North America as a way to keep police accountable for how they deal with the public and with people suspected of committing crimes.

But their use has provoked concerns about privacy and inconsistent use of the cameras, among other issues. In the U.S., officers involved in shootings have been criticized and even charged for not using their cameras or turning them off while the incidents unfolded.

Body cameras are now part of the Fredericton force's new digital management system, which will also manage interview rooms.

Gaudet was confident police will use the cameras properly.

Martin Gaudet, the deputy police chief in Fredericton, says body camera technology is expanding, and someday they may turn on automatically, as soon as a police officer's sidearm is unholstered. (CBC)

"When an officer is dispatched to a call, he or she turns on the camera right away … you would capture the conversation between the officers, backing him or her up, and the dispatch."

Gaudet said cameras can also be turned on during investigations that might bring them into contact with people out on the street, but it's up to the officers to decide what classifies as an "investigational contact."

"We feel that our officers have the professional maturity to determine what investigational contact is."

The six officers who used the cameras during the pilot project recorded about 200 hours of video during which they had 579 motor vehicle "contacts" and dealt with provincial offences, bylaws infractions or warnings. The recordings have been placed in a virtual server.

Gaudet said there haven't been any complaints against the detachment related to officers wearing the body cameras in the first place.

What happens to footage?

Once video has been recorded it will be classified into a virtual server, known as the cloud. Instead of being kept on police premises, the footage will go to a website that officers can access. That information can then be shared with Crown prosecutors.

"We're entering our journey into digital management and how we would do electronic disclosure," he said.

"Why wouldn't the police avail themselves to this technology in order to bring better evidence to the Crown … to hopefully increase the likelihood of conviction, to open transparency, accountability and trust?" he said.

And if a matter isn't under investigation, a person can ask to see the footage through right to information legislation.

"It's a piece of evidence," he said. "I wouldn't show you the smoking gun or the bloody knife in the middle of an investigation."

Cameras in the future

In an internal survey, 92 per cent of officers were in favour of the body cameras, he said.

Gaudet hopes the six body cameras will become available this fall and more will be added soon after.

While there may be concerns that officers will be able to turn the cameras off whenever they please, Gaudet said they're better than nothing.

Decisions about using the body cameras would have to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis if they're challenged, he said.

Six Fredericton police officers started using body cameras Friday for a 90-day trial of the technology that could help increase public trust, the deputy chief says. 0:50

"Right now we have nothing, now we'll have something," he said.

Down the road, there may be dash cameras and smart technology attached to the body camera that will allow it to turn on automatically.

"When you unholster your sidearm, the body camera comes on automatically," Gaudet said.