Parking enforcement officers in 麻豆传媒映画are one step closer to wearing cameras.
A document on the City of Vancouver’s bid page shows an agreement has been reached with Axon Canada Inc. to supply cameras for parking enforcement officers, who will participate in a six-month trial.
“Axon and the 麻豆传媒映画Police Board entered into a supply agreement through a public procurement process on December 18, 2023,” the document said. “The City wishes to enter into a separate agreement with Axon so that the City may acquire services and supply from Axon to conduct a pilot project leveraging on the current contract.”
The trial will be at no cost to the City.
“Under the terms and conditions of the intended contract, the parties may mutually agree in writing to enter into full deployment, under which they may amend the existing contract and extend the term and pricing of the agreement,” the document said.
The City was reluctant to share details on when the trial will begin or how many parking enforcement officers will participate. A City communications team representative said in an email that “we are still finalizing plans for the pilot and will be able to share more information with you in the future.”
Warren Williams, president of CUPE Local 15, said he welcomes the body-worn camera trial for parking enforcement officers, who are represented by the union. Williams didn’t have details on the trial, but believes it will begin with a small number of officers.
“They are constantly being harassed and sometimes physically threatened by the general public,” Williams said. “So that's our concern — the safety of our members, and it’s the City of Vancouver’s concern also because it happens quite regularly.”
$6.5 million
The 麻豆传媒映画Police Department ran a camera trial in 2024 before an assessment was conducted after six months, which has led to full deployment. The cost of that program is $6.5 million in 2025, which includes one-time costs of $1.31 million.
The cost to run the program in 2026 will be $5.11 million, and $5.26 million in 2027.
City council heard from Magnus Enfeldt, the city’s chief safety officer, in October 2024 that City employees were being threatened, intimidated and assaulted at a rate never seen before in the public-serving organization.
The level of “inappropriate behaviours” is being experienced across all departments, Enfeldt said.
“They're increasing both in frequency, complexity and in intensity,” he said, noting parking enforcement officers were being assaulted once every two weeks in 2023, and incidents continue to increase.
During his presentation, Enfeldt said the City was exploring equipping parking enforcement officers with body-worn cameras and less official-looking uniforms in an effort to reduce interactions that end in an employee being assaulted.
Why parking enforcement officers are seeing an escalation in threats and violence isn’t entirely clear, but Williams said it is likely connected to the increasing costs of daily life and the pressures that come with it.
“People are just upset with the economy and the cost of living in 麻豆传媒映画and the lack of free parking spaces in the city — and the cost of parking in the city,” he said. “So they lash out at the only people that they can, and those are the people that are enforcing the bylaw.”
Evaluation report
An evaluation report released in October 2024 on the 麻豆传媒映画Police Department’s body-worn camera trial was inconclusive on whether the cameras decreased the number of assaults against officers.
From Jan. 1 to June 30, 2023, compared to the same time frame in 2024, assaults decreased by 16.7 per cent from six to five for the officers participating in the trial. The decrease was 15.9 per cent for those who were not part of the trial, decreasing from 63 to 53.
The report said the cameras appeared to have had a positive impact on reducing incidents of reportable use of force.
At the same time, the department recognized the limited evaluation period, noting “a more fulsome analysis of use of force reporting can be conducted after a full deployment of [cameras] and over a longer time horizon to better assess how [cameras] impact reportable use of force at the VPD.”
The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner received seven complaints during the evaluation period over incidents where a camera was present. As of October 2024, the OPCC had deemed three of the complaints admissible and four continued to be evaluated.
X/@Howellings
