Body cameras focus of SPC funding request
By Lethbridge Herald on July 8, 2025.
Lethbridge police officers respond to a high-risk incident along 5 Avenue North in this Herald file photo.
Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-GuzmanAl Beeber
LETHBRIDGE HERALD
The Economic and Finance Standing Policy Committee of Lethbridge city council will be asked Thursday to recommend that funding be approved to provide the Lethbridge Police Service with body-worn cameras.
The SPC consists of the mayor and all council members.
A report, to be submitted by Chief Financial Officer Darrell Mathews and presented by LPS chief Shahin Mehdizadeh and Police Commission chair Noella Piquette, notes that body-worn cameras for LPS front-line officers and a related digital evidence management system have been mandated by the provincial government by the end of 2026.
The report states that compliance requires a one-time implementation and what it calls significant ongoing operating costs for equipment as well as licencing and disclosure that exceeds the existing capacity and resources of LPS.
The police commission will be requesting the ongoing funding to support costs associated with the cameras to meet the provincial mandate.
If the SPC agrees to the request, council will be asked to approve up to $555,000 this year and up to $914,000 in 2026 with expenditures to be funded from the Municipal Revenue Stabilization Reserve as a one-time allocation net of any grants received. That funding is up to $555,000 this year and $709,000 in 2026.
The SPC will also be asked to recommend that council direct administration to include the ongoing budget pressure for the cameras in the 2027 and 2028-31 operating budgets.
The report to the SPC states that the one-time and ongoing funding is expected to be offset by a province grant limited to DEMS systems for a maximum annual amount of $205,471 per year for three years.
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 camera is $490, DEMS licence is $1,540 and disclosure is $3,530 for a total cost of $5,560 annually.Â
Disclosure amounts to 63 per cent of annual costs, DEMS licencing 28 per cent and cameras nine per cent.
For grant-eligible years the City would bear 78 per cent of costs and the province 22 per cent.
The Alberta government in March of 2023 mandated that all police forces in the province must wear the cameras by the end of next year
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.
A report in September of 2023 by the police commission to council stated that a preliminary estimate called for 130 cameras to be purchased.
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So what did the UCP mean when they said they would work with the Association of Chiefs of Police on funding 2 years ago when they introduced the mandate? Only 22% for grant eligible years? That is not much help! Smaller police forces are going to need additional supports.
” . . .Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis announced Tuesday that body cams would protect officers and the public, and help make decisions made by police officers more transparent.
The United Conservative Party government will work with the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police on funding, logistics and when the cameras will roll out, he said. . . . ”
If the public could view these they would have a greater appreciation for the job police do and the difficulties. This can be good for both police and public.
Lethbridge tax payers are being asked to shoulder huge expenses lately with minimal financial help from the Province. Council has to stop rubber stamping these requests.
I would hope that, if the govt mandates an action, they would contribute the majority of funds to implement that action instead of downloading cost to the city.