Calgary Herald

Officers begin new testing for body-worn cameras

- BRYAN PASSIFIUME bpassifium­e@postmedia.com twitter.com/ bryanpassi­fiume

Calgary police officers will once again be outfitted with body-worn cameras as the latest attempt at a citywide program begins field tests.

On Tuesday, police announced front-line officers across the city will take part in the three-month pilot project involving 47 cameras from three vendors.

Data from this trial will be used to determine which supplier will outfit the service with cameras, with full deployment to front-line patrols expected by the second quarter of 2019.

All video captured during the trial will be considered evidence.

Once the pilot project wraps and a bid is awarded, Calgary police are hoping to have 250 of the cameras in regular service by the end of this year, the city said in its request for proposal.

This is the second time Calgary police have attempted to get a body camera program off the ground.

Put to tender in 2014 and launched in 2015, the service’s first body-worn camera program was plagued with technical programs and hardware failures, including cases in which units built into twoway radio speaker-microphone­s caused officers’ radios to transmit continuous­ly.

Citing officer-safety concerns, the $1.3-million program was scrapped in September 2016 when negotiatio­ns with Safety Innovation­s Inc. — the winning vendor — failed to produce a mutually acceptable agreement.

Last September, Calgary police filed a $586,000 lawsuit against the company.

Police officials declined to comment on the suit at the time because the matter was before the courts.

The most recent body-camera request for proposal closed Oct. 11.

While Calgary police declined to comment on which cameras were being tested or how they’ll be deployed, Deputy Chief Bob Ritchie said in September the cameras could be worn by officers who don’ t regularly benefit from vehicle- based cameras, such as the mountain bike or downtown beat units.

The decision to relaunch the body-worn camera program is supported by the city’s police union, which says members have eagerly awaited the arrival of the devices.

“Statistics clearly showthat in all jurisdicti­ons that have deployed this tool, the incidence of complaints against officers drops dramatical­ly,” said Calgary Police Associatio­n president Les Kaminski, adding that criminal prosecutio­ns against camera-wearing officers see similar drops.

“These cameras will provide another perspectiv­e and provide answers to questions which may arise during the course of our duties,” he said. “We have been waiting for this tool for a very long time, and look forward to finally getting them.”

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