Council asked to fund police body cameras
By Lethbridge Herald on July 12, 2025.
Herald FILE PHOTO BY AL BEEBER
Lethbridge Police Services officers are seen outside the old Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce location on 13 St. N. after a robbery in April of 2023.Al Beeber
LETHBRIDGE HERALD
Facing no real choice, the Economic and Finance Standing Policy Committee of Lethbridge city council on Thursday voted to recommend that funding be approved to supply the Lethbridge Police Service with provincially mandated body cameras.
The Alberta government in early 2023 ordered all police forces in the province to be wearing the cameras by the end of 2026.
After lengthy discussions on possible sources of funding including LPS BAUs (Budget Appropriations Unexepended), the SPC agreed with the recommendation by administration that the camera costs be funded for 2025 and 2026 with expenditures to be funded from the Municipal Revenue Stabilization Reserve as a one-time allocation.
Council was asked to approve up to $555,000 this year and up to $914,000 in 2026
The SPC also recommended that council direct administration to include the ongoing budget pressure for the cameras in the 2027 and 2028-31 operating budgets.
Net new costs are expected to be $554,375 in 2025, $708,529 in 2026, $718,029 in 2027, $727,529 in 2028 and $942,500 in 2029.
The cost of a new Axiom camera is $490, DEMS licence is $1,540 and disclosure is $5,560.Â
For grant-eligible years the City would bear 78 per cent of costs and the province 22 per cent.
If council approves the recommendation, the City will have costs of about $725,000 annually for three years and nearly $1 million a year after the grant expires.
Chief Financial Officer and treasurer Darrell Mathews told the SPCÂ that normally administration would recommend that Corporate Budget Contingencies be used for such a financial commitment but those funds for the current budget cycle were expended to support the operations of the Lethbridge and District Exhibition.
So therefore funding from the MRSR was being recommended even though, as he reminded the SPC, that he isn’t a fan of depleting that reserve.
The SPC heard that the cost of the cameras could have a tax impact on residents of 0.4 or higher depending upon how long an expected provincial grant of up to $205,471 lasts or is even received.Â
That grant is expected to help offset City costs for three years.
Staff Sergeant Kyle Meyers told the SPC the money would fund 165 cameras for front-line officers with enough to cover the needs of officers being deployed on the tactical team as well as for special events, crowd control and occasions when warrants are being served.
Costs include the hiring of several full-time equivalent staff to complete disclosure.
Body worn cameras will improve transparency and public trust, LPS chief Shahin Mehdizadeh told the SPC.
18-17
We really do not have a choice because the province has mandated this, and we can go ‘elbows up’ but it will not help. It is needed in today’s environment when lawyers often get guilty criminals off because our legislators in Ottawa seem to avoid updated our Criminal Code and other legislation and are too busy concentrating on finding dirt on the other party and telling other countries how to govern, than focusing concerns at home, on fixing so many areas that have fallen behind in these times.
These cameras will benefit all, except the criminal! Verbatim accounts will bring truth to all sides!
There is very little transparency in this city right now, especially at City Hall, while leadership say they are transparent, try to get a FOIP, a freedom of information request to access information that we are entitled to.
They make it impossible to gain access, putting roadblocks up . . . after they take you money for the request.
Chief Financial Officer and treasurer Darrell Mathews told the SPC that normally administration would recommend that Corporate Budget Contingencies be used for such a financial commitment but those funds for the current budget cycle were expended to support the operations of the Lethbridge and District Exhibition.
Good luck trying to get more details on this LDE fiasco! You would need to hire an accountant and a lawyer to get details from the city FOIP department after smaller requests from this department have failed and it is like they purposely try to prevent you from getting information.
There is no transparency at City Hall anymore! You can easily get federal FOIP requests processed, but not in Lethbridge! Why is that??
We need a transparent municipal government! And it isn’t just the elected officials, there seems to be a group in administration that needs to be retired no longer feel they are their to serve the community, but control it as if we are their pee-ons!
Perhaps it is time we brought back the Lethbridge Transparency Council to fight for a more transparent and accountable City Hall!
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