While Class 1 through Class 8 specifically defines the hazards they present in the way of combustion, corrosion, toxins, lethality, radioactivity, and so forth, Class 9 has been purposefully left vague. In many ways, metaphorically at least, Class 9 is the junk drawer of hazardous material classifications. At first look, it offers examples that relate to material properties. Materials that have “an anesthetic, noxious or other similar property which could cause extreme annoyance or discomfort to a flight crew member” to the extent that it might interfere or prevent them from carrying out their assigned duties. Besides flight crews, i.e., flight attendants, bursars, pilots, flight engineers, etc., other examples would also include locomotive engineers, conductors, and railway workers, truck drivers, bus drivers, or sailors, barge masters, boat pilots, and the like.

Delta Police Deputy Chief Harj Sidhu says his force's experience with the cameras has been positive, especially in how they can help gather evidence.

Turton said RCMP will ultimately distribute up to 15,000 cameras across the country, but did not specify how many would initially be used in B.C.

She was clear though about the importance of putting the cameras in place, with the right training and policies to respect privacy.

Officers speaking at the news conference said that, generally, the BWCs used in B.C. record video continuously on a 30-second loop, meaning they overwrite footage every half-minute, until an officer holds down a record button, which activates the camera to record video and sound until it is turned off.

After starting a process to adopt body-worn cameras in 2009, the Vancouver Police Department equipped 85 officers with the cameras, starting this New Year for a pilot project.

More RCMP field testing will be completed in Alberta, Nova Scotia and Nunavut this year before the cameras are made more widely available in provinces like B.C.

RCMP Chief Supt. Holly Turton said some of B.C.'s nearly 7,000 officers should start using the cameras this year, although she did not provide many details over how many or when.

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It may seem fairly obvious from its classification that Class 9 Hazardous Materials of Dangerous Goods are those miscellaneous hazardous materials without a specific definition of the potential hazard, the keyword here being ‘potential.’ Unlike the other 8 hazardous classes that specifically define a hazard—explosives for Class 1, flammable and combustible liquids for Class 3, toxic and infectious substances for Class 6, as examples—Class 9 only vaguely defines a potential hazard or dangerous good. It describes any miscellaneous hazardous material that “presents a hazard during transportation,” but doesn’t fall under any other hazard class. In other words, any materials that are listed in hazard classes 1 through 8 cannot be listed as a Class 9 hazardous material. It also broadens the definition of some materials that would not otherwise be classified as hazardous.

The British Columbia Association of Chiefs of Police (BCACP) outlined plans on Thursday to equip the province's largest pool of officers with body-worn cameras (BWC) in a bid to provide more accountability and public trust in policing.

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Officers also have several ways in which they communicate to people they are interacting with that they are filming and how the video can or cannot be used.

"Traditionally, officers would have made observations and just put them in their notebooks but here they have a video recording of what has occurred," he said.

The second part of the definition of Class 9 is those materials that are hazardous substances or wastes and marine pollutants; and any “elevated temperature materials.” Elevated temperature materials apply to liquids at a temperature at or above 100 °C (212 °F) or a liquid phase material with a flashpoint at or above 38 °C (100 °F) that is intentionally heated or a solid phase material at a temperature at or above 240 °C (464 °F).

On any job site, the presence of any hazardous material or waste can pose an immediate or eventual threat to the health, well-being, and safety of anyone in the presence of the material. The first step in ensuring safety is in properly classifying the hazardous material. Therefore, as with any hazardous substance or material, once classified, Class 9 materials must be properly managed and disposed of.

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"The call for more police transparency has been clearly articulated by the public and as police we are listening," she said. "We expect that the use of body-worn cameras will increase the public's trust in police and improve policing public behaviour."

Both Delta's experience and Vancouver's are being used by the BCACP to inform how cameras can be rolled out in other jurisdictions, including RCMP.

The cameras are meant to be used in many different situations, such as speaking to someone in a police investigation, when violent or aggressive behaviour is expected, or assisting in de-escalation.

It is a priority for CBC to create products that are accessible to all in Canada including people with visual, hearing, motor and cognitive challenges.

Body-worn cameras were first used in B.C. by the Delta Police Department in 2021. The force now has 21 officers wearing the cameras, with another 16 to be added in 2024.

However, as discussed, Class 9 miscellaneous hazardous materials present a wide variety of ‘potential’ hazards and risks to human health and safety and the environment. Because of such vagueness in the classification, those companies, manufacturers, businesses, and institutions that are preparing shipment or handling of such materials may consider the services of a reputable hazardous waste management company as MLI Environmental. Our team of dangerous goods experts offers a range of services to help you properly package, label, ship, and/or dispose of Class 9 or any hazardous material. Contact MLI to help advise you on what you need to know to transport miscellaneous hazardous material.

BWC video will be stored on a provincial digital evidence management system and will be automatically deleted after 13 months unless it is being retained as evidence in relation to an event or for training purposes, police have said.

"I can tell you in Vancouver we have developed comprehensive guidelines that recognize balancing these privacy concerns with the objective of body-worn cameras," he said.

By definition, hazardous materials are those dangerous goods, any substances or materials, that are capable of posing “an unreasonable risk to health, safety, and property when transported in commerce.” They must be identified with proper packaging, communication, handling, and storage to reduce the associated risks to people, populations, and the environment during transportation. The 49 CFR regulations of hazardous materials then, apply to all modes of transportation be it air, rail, highway, or waterway, and the proper labeling, description, storage, and transportation of materials.

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Supt. Howard Tran of the Vancouver Police Department said one of the most important aspects of getting the tool right for police and for the public is privacy and how the information from the cameras will be used.

Sidhu says it cost his force about $3,000 to equip one officer with a camera and to pay for administrative costs associated with it.

"We have found that around impaired driving investigations, for example, the video shows the [indications] of impairment that the individual has."

Last October the RCMP published, nationally, a new body-worn cameras operational policy for how the force would adopt the cameras, which several other forces have begun using to film interactions with the public.

Nevertheless, no matter how vaguely defined, the U. S. Department of Transportation (DOT) requires any transportation of any type of hazardous material or waste to be labeled and sorted appropriately. The classifications for the transportation of hazardous materials (commonly referred to as ‘hazmat’) are found under Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations, or simply 49 CFR, which covers the rules and regulations for transportation in the US.