Now it’s the police being fingerprinted

Scans when checking in, out of court Yet officials deny overtime abuse occurs

Toronto police are offended that they will soon be fingerprinted when they sign in and out of court, even though officials deny it is an attempt to curb false overtime claims.

“Simply said, it’s not necessary,” police union president Dave Wilson said of the fingerprint scanning technology to be installed in Toronto’s seven major courthouses early next year.

Police service officials say the system, which will cost $ 300,000, is meant only to simplify and speed up officers’ paycheques and has nothing to do with a lack of trust.

“ We’ve been looking at ways to improve the accuracy of informationkeeping and record management,” said police board chair Alok Mukherjee. “This will expedite processing of payments as well as eliminate chances of errors in record keeping.” Mukherjee was adamant that

fingerprint scanning is not an attempt to cut back on perceived abuses of the system.

“ If there is any misuse, then of course the chances of misuse are limited. But that’s not the main motivation. The motivation is quick turnaround of payment and accurate information keeping,” he said. But Wilson said rank- and- file officers have told him, “ There’s a sense of Big Brother watching.” “ The first question is, what’s the reason for doing this? The second question is, what’s the message that gets sent out by doing it? It’s offensive to officers . . . and it continues to erode confidence,” he said.

Wilson said if it is really about paying officers more efficiently, there are better ways to do it.

“ Fingerprints are pretty intrusive. The law says it’s intrusive. There’s less intrusive ways for us to sign in and out,” he said. “ An example of that would be logging in and out of a computer.”

Currently, officers attending court fill out paper forms then submit them for payment.

“What’s next? Retina detection?” Wilson said. “ We’re getting back into that interesting world of Charter rights of police officers versus other people. They keep wanting to impose intrusive measures of different kinds against police officers. If they tried to pull this off in a regular workplace, they wouldn’t be able to do it.”

In 2004, the union reacted strongly against a recommendation that officers seeking promotions to sensitive or high- risk units undergo mandatory drug testing. The union was outraged, calling the suggestion a

Service, said a paper system breach of Charter rights. Drug

leaves room for human error testing has not been implemented.

and paying officers for their

court time under the current

Wilson said he recognizes the

system takes several weeks. Often officers required ‘If there’s not a problem, why to attend

court are not on bother changing it to such an

their regular shift,

and must file overtime intrusive system?’ for court appearances. An automated need to move away from a paper system will also allow the system for tracking court time

police to collect data more accurately and acknowledged an automated and budget accordingly, system would be more efficient.

Gibson said.

“ When you have a large volume

Bill Gibson, director of human of court attendance going resources for the Toronto Police

on, processing things manually does have the risk of mistakes,” said Mukherjee. “ With this system, that will be eliminated. So it is both fast and accurate.” Once the system is installed, an officer will be required to log into a kiosk at the courthouse by placing his or her finger on a screen. The system will “ identify who they are and bring up the officer’s case,” Gibson said. When signing out, the officer will again use a fingerprint as well as answer some questions about what he did at court that day, including whether he testified and for how long.

“There’s been a mixed response from officers. Some say it is like a Big Brother watching. The concerns have been raised. But once they understand why we’re doing it — so they can be paid quickly — there’s less resistance,” Gibson said. The technology could be used in other areas of policing down the road, said Gibson. For security purposes, the system could be implemented for computer access, he said.

Since 2001, the service has been implementing new technology to improve record keeping as it relates to hours worked by officers, said Gibson. This technology is part of the project. The union has never been told there’s a problem with officers signing each other in and out or padding overtime at court. Fingerprint scanning suggests that officers need the system to make them accountable, Wilson said.

“ If there’s not a problem, why bother changing it to such an intrusive system?” he said. “. . . Of all the places to sink money into right now, this seems like a poor choice.”