Forty Saskatoon Police Service officers have begun training on the use of body worn cameras. Chief Troy Cooper expects the front-line officers will be using the new technology by the end of this month. He explains that this is a pilot project to evaluate how many new staff will be needed to disseminate the video when it’s needed for review or for court, or from a Freedom of Information request. The staff will also have to redact or edit any privileged, sensitive, or clearly irrelevant content prior to handing it over.

It’s expected the Police Service will need about 200 body worn cameras if the pilot project is successful, and if it is given the green light during budget deliberations. The pilot project has been approved in the 2022 budget and the 2023 preliminary budget.

Cooper notes that the officers can review the video of an incident on a secure cell phone which comes with the camera, but can’t edit or delete anything. The video is stored in a secure cloud and kept for 25 months before being deleted, unless it is still needed for investigation.

Cooper says having body worn cameras provides additional evidence for investigations, and can support early case resolution in legal matters and public complaint. It also provides a record of police encounters with the public, which he believes increases public trust and confident, and helps to increase police transparency and accountability. The video can also be used in training and review for officers.

The body worn cameras will be turned off as officers arrive at an incident and they will be turned off when it concludes. Cooper expects the technology will mean reductions in court time, and will be an overall benefit to the justice system.

Through the pilot project, Chief Troy Cooper says they will be looking at volume of data, the extraction, pixelation, and court preparation work pertaining to the roughly 200 cameras that would be needed for the Police Service.