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| It doesn’t lie |
Toronto police will soon implement a sensible pilot project to test lapel (or vest) cameras on officers working with the public. This move follows a recent recommendation that police adopt the so-called “body-worn” video cams. It’s not known how many officers or in what divisions the cameras will be tested. Many departments in the U.S. use the cameras and the results have been almost uniformly good. In addition to providing raw evidence of what happened in a criminal matter, the cameras appear to have a modifying effect on the behaviour of both police and the public. In some Americans cities the use of force by police has declined and complaints against the police have dropped by as much as 90 per cent. Deputy Chief Peter Sloly told the Toronto Star, “There are a lot of different variables that are part of this. It’s not just clipping a camera onto an officer’s lapel. There’s policy issues, there’s IT issues, there’s budget issues.” The cameras come in varying levels of quality. Some departments have cameras costing as little as $100, but the quality and stability is marginal. Others can cost between $500 and $1,000.
