Body Worn Cameras

The Hamilton Police Service is introducing body-worn cameras to increase transparency and accountability in public interactions while enhancing public and officer safety. They offer an unbiased view of interactions between police and the public and can capture critical evidence.

Body-worn cameras will be deployed to frontline officers and identified specialty uniformed units, with deployment beginning March 3, 2025.

A police officer will activate the body-worn camera before arriving at a call for service, when they begin investigating someone, or when they start asking questions to gather information. The officer will turn the camera off once the call or investigation is finished, or when they decide that continuing to record is no longer necessary.

Officers will have their body-worn camera clearly visible, with lights and indicators showing when they're recording. They will give notice that a body-worn camera is activated at the earliest opportunity that allows for officer safety.

The only time a request to turn off a body-worn camera will be actioned is when an officer has entered a private residence or private place without legal authority of a warrant, the owner/occupant does not provide consent to record, and exigent circumstances do not exist.

Officers will undergo training prior to being issued a body-worn camera and will receive subsequent and ongoing training.  

Yes, a policy has been approved and it provides officers with operational direction. Click here to view the policy.

Members who do not follow procedures could face discipline following an internal investigation.

An officer will make their notes in compliance with standard operating procedures. If, after reviewing the video, an addition to the notes is needed, an addendum can be done that includes a reference to the review of body-worn camera footage.

Body-worn camera data will be stored on a secure Canadian storage server in accordance with all applicable provincial and federal legislation and security best practices.

All data collected by the body-worn camera is subject to the retention schedule set by our organization and in accordance with existing legislation surrounding Records & Information Management.

Footage is securely uploaded at the end of each shift. The data will be encrypted within the camera during transit to the storage server and while in storage.

The recording officer and involved officers will have access to video data, along with their supervisor (for auditing purposes) and some officers from specialized investigative units. There are strict auditing measures in place that track who opens and watches any video.

A copy of the recorded data may be redacted by authorized members of the Hamilton Police Service.  Redactions do not alter the original file.  Should a file be deleted due to retention schedules, data regarding the file is still retained for audit purposes. 

Yes, all requests from members of the public for body-worn camera data, must go through the Freedom of Information Unit.

The program costs under $9.6 million over five years.

No, body-worn cameras do not use facial recognition. They are also not used for surveillance.

Yes, the technology does have transcription capabilities.

The battery in a body-worn camera will last an entire 12-hour shift.