Edmonton police body-cam deal worth $16M over 5 years

The Edmonton Police Commission meets at city hall on October 20, 2022. (Source: City of Edmonton)

The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) is outlining a number of expensive purchases it's making, including body cams, motorcycles and helicopter fuel.

The Edmonton Police Commission, which oversees the city police, is required to tell councillors about any deals it makes worth more than $250,000 when the city isn't consulted.

Between July 2023 and June this year, the EPS says it spent about $25 million on nine such contracts, the most-expensive a five-year deal for body-cams worth about $16 million.

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There is also a 10-year contract for helicopter fuel worth $4.2 million.

"There are not a lot of gas stations out at the Villeneuve airport, so you take what you get, right?, in terms of buying fuel," Ward pihêsiwin Coun. Tim Cartmell said Wednesday.

"This was a procurement report, not a review of police operations report, so from a procurement perspective, they're doing just fine"

The traffic division is also spending $500,000 to replace its aging BMW motorcycles.

EPS is paying for these contracts within its existing budget.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson