ACCESS DENIED: Kamloops RCMP withhold bodycam footage of homeless incident

Mounties touted bodycams as a way to improve transparency and public trust, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to get access the footage.

Unless your face is in the video, it’s unlikely to be released.

iNFOnews.ca requested body-worn camera footage of a police incident last December. As Kamloops was hit with an overnight snowstorm, police were called by bylaw officers to move along a group of homeless people huddled in a storefront.

Summer Crombie spoke to iNFOnews.ca in the days after, complaining of “belligerently rude” police and an improper search of her vehicle. She said she was at the scene to help the people attempting to stay warm in the early December evening.

Crombie said it was around midnight when she arrived on the Tranquille Road scene, where one woman was without winter clothes and especially cold, as the small group huddled together under a tarp.

Crombie said she had a propane heater in her truck she donated it to them.

“One girl I know, she’s soaking wet with a pair of pants on and a long-sleeve shirt. She’s soaked and it’s cold out,” Crombie said. “The group had a tarp and all they did was use a cart and suitcase, blocking the wind just enough to keep the heat in.”

Police arrived after they were contacted by bylaw officers and attempted to move them along, she said. One kicked the tarp and knocked over the propane heater, and another knocked over a shopping cart of someone’s belongings.

Crombie asked police for assistance in finding a resource to call, but an officer told her they’re job “is not to babysit” them.

Crombie questioned where they should go as the shelters, if they had room, would have been closed. One of the women, Crombie said, had been temporarily banned from shelter.

“(One officer) said ‘she’s still a child. She needs to grow up… so we don’t risk losing her life and we can’t get blamed for it,'” she said.

Crombie swas frustrated with the officers as she expected help for the people outside, rather than enforcement. She said that didn’t happen and the people were merely moved along.

As two officers cleared from the scene, the one turned his attention to Crombie’s truck, which was nearby and parked on the street.

“He just goes to the driver side, opens the door and he gets into my truck. I know it’s wrong but I’m speechless at this point,” she said, adding that the officer emerged and said he’d ticket her for leaving her keys inside.

Crombie said her key was in her pocket while the door was unlocked.

The officer, she said, sifted through the cab and her glove box, then gave her an $81 ticket for an unsecured motor vehicle. She added that she has had multiple run-ins with the same RCMP officer and feels targeted.

Following Crombie’s allegations that police harassed homeless people that evening and an improper search of her truck, iNFOnews.ca sought police bodycam footage of the incident, and related police notes, through a federal government Access to Information request.

Five months later, the request was denied and no records were provided.

When iNFOnews.ca reached out to Kamloops RCMP for a response to Crombie’s allegations, BC RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Brett Urano said due to privacy laws the complaints could only be addressed through the formal civilian complaint process.

“I did file a complaint online, like I have many times before,” she said. “And I just dealt with (the officer who searched her truck) three days before that.”

The RCMP deployed body cameras in November 2024, billed as a way to strengthen “transparency, accountability and public trust.” They said the cameras would also help resolve public complaints, improve interactions with the public and help with gathering evidence.

While RCMP hasn’t used them long, some studies in other countries find their use does reduce instances of police violence.

A UK study, meanwhile, found that they also made dealings with the public more difficult and conversations sometimes seemed scripted.

The RCMP isn’t the only Canadian police force to use bodycams either, nor is it the only one that restricts who can access the video they record.

Unlike in the U.S. where there are varying degrees of access to bodycams as public records, Canada is more strict on their release.

South of the border, access depends on state and local laws, with places like Florida being extremely open and others putting limits on video release, like blurring civilian faces.

According to RCMP policy, only people involved in the video can access the footage or provide written permission to access it.

Other exceptions include videos as evidence in court or when RCMP decide there is a public interest in publicly releasing some footage.

The latter has not yet occurred in Canada since body cameras were deployed by the RCMP.