DETAILS, DISTRIBUTION OF NEW POLICE VEHICLE CAMERAS

B.C.’s 320 new traffic-duty vehicle cameras offer many state-of-the-art features that will make policing safer and protect the integrity of the footage recorded.

The technical standards of the police-vehicle cameras far exceed those of regular, consumer-quality digital cameras. The in-car cameras:

· Are protected in a maximum-security, fire- and bulletproof vault that withstands the shock, vibration, dust and temperature extremes of a police-car environment.

· Offer a 40:1 zoom ratio, very sharp images, superior colour, night-video capability and a backlight feature that provides better visibility in poor lighting conditions.

· Can record up to 90 hours of real-time video, with a unique time code on each frame.

· Record to encased DVD-RAM discs, which protect data better than do standard DVDs.

· Automatically begin recording when emergency equipment is activated and when a police vehicle is involved in a collision. Officers can also activate a camera while inside their vehicle or remotely through a wireless microphone.

The Province is basing distribution of the new in-car cameras on police operations budgets and the number of traffic unit members and traffic enforcement vehicles that RCMP units and independent municipal police departments have. The new in-car cameras will focus on impaired and dangerous driving enforcement, so the number of cameras allocated to individual police agencies will reflect the resources they direct toward traffic safety.

The table below summarizes where the new cameras are going.

RCMP Provincial Traffic Units

Lower Mainland Traffic Services
Deas Island	10
Hope	8
Port Mann	14
Sea to Sky	5
Sumas	11
Sunshine Coast	3
Island District Traffic Services
Central Island Traffic Services – Parksville	7
North Island Traffic Services – Campbell River	2
South Island Traffic Services – Chemainus	8
North District Traffic Services
Burns Lake Highway Patrol	2
Chetwynd Highway Patrol	2
Dawson Creek Highway Patrol	2
Fort Nelson Traffic Services	2
Fort St. John Highway Patrol	3
Prince George Highway Patrol	6
Quesnel Highway Patrol	4
Smithers Highway Patrol	2
Terrace Highway Patrol	4
Valemount Highway Patrol	2
Vanderhoof Highway Patrol	2
Southeast District Traffic Services
Ashcroft Traffic Services	4
Central Interior Traffic Services – Clearwater	2
Central Interior Traffic Services – Kamloops	1
Central Okanagan Traffic Services – Kelowna	7
East Kootenay Traffic Services – Cranbrook	10
Golden Traffic Services	8
Merritt Traffic Services	6
North Okanagan Traffic Services – Vernon	4
Revelstoke Sicamous Traffic Services	3
South Okanagan Highway Patrol – Keremeos	8
West Kootenay Traffic Services – Nelson	8

RCMP Municipal Traffic Units

Within the Lower Mainland:
Burnaby Municipal Traffic	13
Chilliwack (Upper Fraser Valley Regional Detachment – Traffic)	4
Coquitlam Municipal Traffic	8
Langley City Traffic	3
Mission Municipal Traffic	2
North Vancouver City Traffic	2
North Vancouver Municipal Traffic	5
Richmond Municipal Traffic	7
Squamish Municipal Traffic	1
Surrey Municipal Traffic	13
Whistler Municipal Traffic	1
On Vancouver Island:
Campbell River Municipal Traffic	1
Colwood Municipal Traffic	1
Comox Municipal Traffic	1
Courtenay Municipal Traffic	1
Nanaimo Municipal Traffic	9
North Cowichan Municipal Traffic	1
North Saanich Municipal Traffic	1
Port Alberni Municipal Traffic	2
Sidney Municipal Traffic	2
West Shore Municipal Traffic (Langford)	1
Rest of British Columbia:
Cranbrook Municipal Traffic	1
Kamloops City Traffic	4
Kelowna Municipal Traffic	5
Penticton Municipal Traffic	2
Prince George City Traffic	4
Prince Rupert Municipal Traffic	1
Salmon Arm Municipal Traffic	1
Vernon Municipal Traffic	3

Independent Municipal Police Departments

Abbotsford	6
Central Saanich	2
Delta	5
Nelson	2
New Westminster	5
Oak Bay	1
Port Moody	2
Saanich	6
Vancouver	19
Victoria	9
West Vancouver	3

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Media contact:	Ian Indridson Public Affairs Bureau 250 356-6391

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