Body-worn cameras on campus
Select staff wear body-worn cameras (BWC) on campus to record audio and video during specific interventions, providing an objective account of events.
What you should know about body-worn cameras (BWC's) on campus:
As part of Concordia's ongoing commitment to campus safety, Campus Safety and Prevention Services (CSPS) has introduced body-worn cameras (BWC) for select personnel. These cameras are issued as standard duty equipment and are used to record audio and video during specific interventions, offering a reliable and objective account of events in real time.
Purpose of body-worn cameras
The use of BWCs help the members of the CSPS team to:
- Strengthen transparency, accountability, and community trust.
- Resolve complaints more efficiently
- Improve interactions between community members and CSPS agents
- Enhance evidence collection
Why body-worn cameras are used
At Concordia, CSPS is committed to creating a safe, welcoming environment for everyone, whether you're visiting, living, working, or studying on campus. Our team delivers services with kindness, consistency, impartiality, transparency, and sustainability.
To support this commitment, select trained CSPS personnel use BWCs during clearly defined circumstances, incidents and interventions. These devices capture video and audio to create an objective, real-time record of events.
BWCs are used to help ensure transparency, support accurate reporting, and strengthen trust between CSPS and the Concordia community with an unbiased record of events.
When are body worn cameras activated?
BWCs are not used for general surveillance or casual observation; the cameras are off by default and not constantly recording. Agents must manually activate them by pressing a button. Cameras will be activated in the following situations:
- When crimes are being committed
- Conflicts that may result in a code of conduct or criminal complaint.
- Physical confrontation between individuals.
- Any intervention that becomes verbally or physically aggressive.
- Any intervention where force is used by an agent or individual and/or when an individual is detained for a criminal act.
If you have concerns about your confidentiality in a particular situation, please reach out to the Office of Rights and Responsibilities for an independent review.
FAQs
CSPS personnel will inform individuals verbally when their body-worn camera (BWC) is activated and recording. A blinking red light next to the camera lens will also indicate that the device is actively recording.
No. CSPS agents are required to follow BWC operating procedures. Once a camera is activated for a qualifying situation, it cannot be turned off at the request of individuals.
Concerns or complaints about BWC use can be submitted here.
CSPS takes privacy seriously and has conducted a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) to identify potential risks and implement safeguards to protect individual privacy.
For example, if a body-worn camera (BWC) captures individuals who are not directly involved in an incident or investigation, steps will be taken to protect their identities. This may include blurring faces or redacting portions of audio or video that are not relevant to a Code of Conduct process or court proceeding.
In line with best practices, CSPS BWC operational procedures clearly outline situations where it is not appropriate to activate a BWC, such as during medical emergencies or in areas where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Respect for privacy is a core principle built into both CSPS training and its BWC operating procedures. Any misuse of a BWC will be addressed through additional training and, if necessary, disciplinary measures.
Videos are stored in a variety of locations on secure hard drives.
Yes, significant steps have been taken to protect the video surveillance infrastructure against unauthorized access.
Video images are destroyed in accordance with the procedures: after the retention period they are written over by new video.
Access is limited and highly controlled:
- Agents may only view their own recordings for incident reporting.
- CSPS personnel are not authorized to access the BWC recordings of other agents.
- A small group of authorized CSPS management personnel can access footage for investigative or compliance purposes.
- Any inappropriate or erroneous use of BWC will be addressed as per established disciplinary and training practices.
- Recordings may be used as evidence in code of conduct tribunals and civil or criminal court proceedings.
Yes. Requests for access to BWC or other security footage can be made through an Access to Information request with Concordia’s Office of the General Counsel by email at ogc@concordia.ca. However under privacy legislation, images that have captured other people’s images or any identifying information must be protected. In other words, you can only view images that only concern yourself and no one else.
