Some Belleville Police officers will begin wearing body cameras later this year as part of a 90-day pilot project.
As part of the pilot, Axon Public Safety Canada will be giving the police service 28 cameras and eight licences for the needed computer program, with those cameras to be split between officers on both the day and night shifts, as well as the traffic safety unit.
Chief Mike Callaghan says the pilot program is a “golden opportunity” to embrace new technology for the benefit of both officers and the public.
“When we’re living in such a litigious society right now and understanding the ramifications from public complaints, we believe that this is an opportunity for us to embrace the technology and use it to assist with the challenge of transparency in policing across North America.”
Given the technological infrastructure and training that needs to take place, it’s estimated that the pilot project will begin in the fourth quarter of this year.
If the pilot project goes well, the police service will have an option to enter into a contract with Axon, to outfit officers as needed, in 2022.
Quotes provided for those packages include 70 cameras for front line officers and basic software, at a cost of $409,000, or $666,958 if the police service decides to upgrade to the unlimited features Axon offers.
The report also says the program would require more hours to be worked by a civilian staffer to handle any freedom of information requests for the footage.
You can click here read the full report on the body camera pilot project.
