Misison (from Inspector Ted Lewko, the Officer in Charge for the Mission RCMP detachment) – Welcome to the January 2026 edition of The Inspector’s Corner. I regularly provide updates to Mayor and Council and meet with people at various community events, but this is an opportunity for me to connect with everyone, to help you to learn more about how your local detachment is serving the community.
We have now been using Body Worn Cameras (BWC) for a little over a year, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to talk about how the program is going in Mission, and provide some additional information on how we use BWC.
Overall, the implementation of BWC has been a positive change. It helps to capture evidence and interactions in all sorts of situations, which helps bolster evidence for charges and court proceedings, but also helps to increase the public’s confidence that our officers are being professional and accountable during their investigations. Here’s a broad overview of how it works: When an officer arrives at a call, they activate the audio and video recording, which continues until they depart; the recording gets uploaded to the Digital Evidence Management System, which catalogs the recording and links it to BWC footage from other officers on the same call; if the recording is needed as evidence in relation to a criminal charge, the audio from the recording is transcribed, and an in-depth vetting process is completed, to ensure that personal information (such as someone’s home address) is redacted, and to protect the identity of anyone not related to the investigation (such as someone walking past a police incident on a public street); if the recording is not required for a criminal proceeding or an ongoing investigation (such as a recording from a traffic stop), that footage is retained for a set period, then deleted.
Although the use of the cameras is straightforward, there definitely was a learning curve for officers and support staff dealing with some of the data processing. As part of this, we worked closely with the BC Prosecution Service on how best to quickly provide evidence when someone was held in custody and the evidence was needed for a bail hearing within hours of an arrest. We have since made significant progress and continue to work to find ways to make the procedures of processing and disclosing the BWC footage as streamlined and efficient as possible.
The BWC has proven itself to be useful in a variety of situations. For example, in a situation where an officer would previously have had to rely on their articulation within a report to describe someone’s behaviour or actions, the audio and video recording presents a much more telling account of a dynamic situation, helping crown prosecutors and others involved in the court process to get a more fulsome account of what happened. BWC can also help to de-escalate situations: someone who may otherwise have been threatening or violent toward an officer might instead think twice about doing so, knowing their actions are being recorded and that they are more likely to be held accountable for their actions. It also provides enhanced accountability of police, documenting what our officers say and do when interacting with the public, and giving us the ability to easily review how a situation was handled.
The next time you have an interaction with one of our officers, look for the little black box with flashing lights on the front of their uniform. If the lights are green, the recording is off; if they are red, that means the audio and video recording is active (of course, you can always ask the officer as well). Just know that BWC is intended to benefit the public as much as it is police. A lot of thought has gone into collecting the best evidence, while still balancing the privacy rights of individuals. You’re always welcome to contact us with any questions or concerns, and I fully anticipate that there will continue to be small changes in how we use BWC, both from a practical standpoint, but also as the technology behind the BWC continues to progress.
If you would like to know more about a specific aspect of the Mission RCMP, send us an email (RCMPMission@rcmp-grc.gc.ca), and we’ll do our best to provide the answers you’re looking for. Until then, be safe, and I hope your 2026 is off to a good start!
