Kingston Police officers could be one step closer to wearing body cameras if a motion brought forward by Kingston Police Service Board Chair Gregory Ridge receives the board's support this week.
Ridge is calling for a report from Kingston Police Chief Adam MacIntosh outlining what it would take to introduce a body-worn camera program, including costs, staffing requirements, privacy considerations, and an implementation timeline. The motion, which the board will consider at its meeting on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, would require the chief to return with the report by November 26.
For Ridge, the proposal represents an initiative he has wanted to pursue since joining the board.
"It's always been in my intention, since I got on the board, to move this forward," Ridge told Kingstonist in an interview Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. "I had intended to do it sooner."
He said residents have questioned why Kingston Police officers are not already equipped with cameras, particularly when other Ontario police services, including that in nearby Belleville, have adopted the technology.
"I've had a number of people ask me why this isn't the case in Kingston, and I don't have a good answer for that, to be honest," Ridge admitted.
The KPSB chair said he has discussed the initiative internally and identified it as a priority when MacIntosh was hired as chief. To his knowledge, the issue had not previously come before the board as a formal motion.
"I think that this is an important step forward if we're talking about accountability and transparency," Ridge explained.
"It's also an important step forward, too, for addressing potentially vexatious complaints against members of the police service, so it works for everyone, which is why I'm confused it has not yet happened."
Although cameras would add scrutiny to police interactions with the public, Ridge said the response he has encountered among officers has generally been positive.
"The private conversations that I've had with members of the Kingston Police have been generally very supportive of the initiative," he said.
He explained that recordings could provide evidence of an officer's conduct when responding to complaints, including situations where an officer has acted appropriately and in accordance with the law.
What does the research show?
While police services worldwide have widely adopted body-worn cameras, research on their effectiveness has produced mixed results.
A 2022 research overview published by the United States National Institute of Justice examined the findings of numerous evaluations, including a comprehensive review of 70 studies. That review found no consistent or statistically significant effects across several policing outcomes, including use of force, assaults against officers, and arrests.
However, individual studies have identified benefits. Evaluations of body-worn camera programs in Boston and Las Vegas found significant reductions in complaints against officers and reported uses of force, while studies in other jurisdictions found little or no measurable improvement.
The research also raises questions about whether cameras alone can improve relationships between police and the communities they serve.
A 2019 scholarly article published in Surveillance & Society, an academic journal hosted by Queen's University, examined the relationship between body-worn cameras, police legitimacy, and public trust.
The authors questioned whether increasing the visibility of police interactions necessarily improves accountability, arguing that cameras cannot independently address the underlying causes of strained police-community relationships.
Despite the mixed findings, body-worn cameras are becoming increasingly common in Canadian policing.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) began a nationwide rollout in November 2024, deploying approximately 10,000 cameras to frontline officers across the country.
According to the RCMP, 79 per cent of frontline members were wearing cameras as of July 2026, with national deployment expected to be completed by fall 2027.
The RCMP identifies transparency, accountability, public trust, improved interactions, and evidence collection as some of the program's objectives.
Its policies require officers to activate cameras during specified interactions, including calls for service and investigations, while establishing restrictions to protect privacy. Officers must also document instances when cameras are intentionally or accidentally deactivated.
Costs and privacy considerations
Ridge acknowledged that implementing a camera program in Kingston would involve substantial logistical and financial considerations, particularly storing and managing video recordings.
"This obviously will require the storage of an additional incredible amount of data," he said.
He explained that questions about how recordings would be stored, who would have access to them, and how the police service would meet its privacy and record-keeping obligations have already been part of internal discussions.
The motion also calls for the chief's report to address the program's purpose, expected outcomes, and measures of effectiveness, along with training requirements, policies, financial implications, and public communications.
Ridge emphasized that the immediate objective is to begin moving toward implementation.
"I think that's the important thing,... to get the initiative going, which is what I am fully intending to do," he said.
If approved Thursday, the motion would direct MacIntosh to provide the requested report at the board's November meeting. The motion would not, by itself, authorize the purchase or deployment of body-worn cameras.
The Kingston Police Service Board meets regularly at 12 noon on the fourth Thursday of each month (unless stated otherwise in the agenda) in the William Hackett Boardroom at Kingston Police Headquarters, 705 Division Street.