Police body worn camera program will be expanded
Posted Aug 19, 2013 3:45 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Smile for the camera! Calgary Police are going to keep using body worn cameras.
A pilot project kicked off in November of last year, that saw officers strapping the recording devices to their uniforms.
2700 videos have been captured, with 30 of those being used as evidence in court cases, and 15 leading to early resolution.
Some technological issues will have to be worked out before more cameras are provided to officers, in addition to the 50 already in use, but police want to keep the cameras rolling.
Superintendent Nina Vaughn says they assume they are being videotaped or recorded anywhere they go nowadays, and this is a good tool to make sure all sides of the story are covered.
“A different perspective, a police perspective, and provides transparency for the entire situation, and makes that available as an additional side to the story,” she says.
Vaughn says it will also likely be used as a training tool to make sure officers are handling situations properly.
Police don’t have an estimate yet of how much the program will cost.
