2020-08-29
KITCHENER-As part of the one-year pilot of this technology, several police officers from the Guelph Police Department will start wearing body-worn cameras in early September.
The project was announced in a press release issued on Tuesday morning.
Officials said that the camera pilot is in line with the service’s strategic plan and will explore whether the camera is effective in serving the community.
The program is scheduled to run from September 1 to August 31 next year.
The Guelph Police Department said it has partnered with Dr. Alana Saulnier, Coordinator of the Criminology Program at Lakehead University. The press release stated that she has "extensive experience" with body cameras and has worked at police stations in Chicago and Durham County, Illinois.
The press release stated: "The Guelph Police Department will use the information obtained in the pilot project to help determine whether the BWC will become a permanent equipment for all police officers."
The Guelph police are not the first to consider the use of body cameras in Ontario.
The Waterloo Regional Police said in June that it was also considering implementing the technology.
At the time, Karen Redman, chairman of the Police Service Committee, stated that the remaining cost of buying the camera was their biggest consideration.
"There is an investment in the purchase of a camera, but this is not the biggest transaction. The biggest transaction is how to store recordings. This is the purpose of recordings." She said at the time.
CTV Kitchener (KTV Kitchener) has contacted the Guelph Police Service to inquire about the estimated cost of the show, but has not received a reply.
Five years ago, a human body camera pilot project in Toronto cost the police $1 million to equip personnel for a year, but it is not clear whether this cost will translate into a cost per officer.
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