TAX HIKES FOR POLICE NOT NEEDED

More than seven years ago, the Calgary Police Service began exploring the idea of outfitting officers with body cameras. Since then, there’s been a pilot project and a partial rollout only to run into technical difficulties.

The system chosen was changed by the manufacturer and there were glitches, including buttons that were sticky and interfered with the police radio network.

As a result, the plan to equip every street cop with a body-worn camera was “over ’n’ out” before it ever really got going. That’s a shame.

Currently, the service has a request for information on equipping the service with cameras and a request for proposals is in development.

But Coun. Ward Sutherland, who sits on the police commission, is concerned that proposed cuts to the police budget will interfere with the program in the future.

“There’s a very sophisticated backroom for the cameras — data retention, software, how it’s going to be used, the security for it, etc.,” explained Sutherland.

As a result, Sutherland is asking for the police budget to be boosted by $14.3 million — or about a one per cent increase in property taxes.

That request, however, is premature and should not be heeded, if reputable studies are to be believed.

According to a 2016 study by Cambridge University, for every dollar police spent on body-worn cameras, $4 is saved — and the cost-saving ratio is expected to improve as the technology costs decrease.

The year-long study of almost 2,000 officers

The report found that more people pleaded guilty to an offence, rather than going through a trial when there was evidence of their arrest. That saves the courts and police both time and money.

in the United Kingdom and United States shows that wearable cameras led to an astonishing 93 per cent drop in complaints made against police. The study suggests several reasons for that. The civility of both police officers and the public is heightened when they know they are being filmed.

Also, almost all citizens who make complaints and then find out there is video of the incident drop their complaint, recognizing it as either frivolous, exaggerated or false.

In addition, the report found that more people pleaded guilty to an offence, rather than going through a trial when there was evidence of their arrest. That saves the courts and police both time and money.

A spokesperson with the Calgary Police Service said Monday that currently no police officers are wearing cameras, although cruisers are equipped.

“There’s no definitive way for us to correlate cost savings at this time,” said the spokesperson.

“All we can say is there have been cases of early resolution based on body camera images for CPS previously.”

In other words, Sutherland is jumping the gun here. If this Cambridge study is accurate — and there’s no reason to think otherwise — the new body cameras should decrease costs and therefore there is no need to increase the police budget.

Any more talk of increasing taxes, for this reason, should be met with static and lots of it.