Toronto police take another look at body cams
Technology advances mean costs could be less than estimate following 2016 pilot project
Toronto police have begun the search for a supplier of body-worn cameras as part of the ongoing effort to equip all front-line officers with the technology.
No decision has been made to proceed with what would be an enormous purchase, estimated to be in the tens of millions of dollars spread over a decade, at a time when the service is attempting to curb its billion-dollar budget.
The police service will first conduct what Insp. Mike Barsky, the lead officer on the force’s body-worn camera project, called an “in-depth and robust evaluation” of body-worn camera technology. The service has posted a request for information on tendering website Merx, and a call-out for detailed information about the cameras themselves, including storage and software.
“What we want now is to inform ourselves on what the state of the technology is today,” Barsky said in an interview.
The technology has changed rapidly, even since the completion of a10-month pilot project in 2016 which saw 85 Toronto police officers test lapel cameras. Although the project revealed significant problems, including issues with battery life, it concluded that the service should equip all front-line personnel — about 3,200 officers — with cameras, finding there was both strong community and officer support for the technology.
The pace of change has cost implications. Immediately after the pilot project, Toronto police estimated the price tag at about $85 million spread over 10 years for infrastructure and storage. An additional $60-80 million was estimated in administrative costs, including additional personnel hours.
But those costs could potentially be cut in half, in part due to innovations in cloud storage, which is far more cost efficient but wasn’t examined as an option during the pilot project, Barsky said.
In recent years, police services across North America have opted to equip officers with bodyworn cameras to increase accountability and reduce incidences of use of force by officers.
In a 95-page report following the pilot project, Toronto police also noted the technology could protect its officers from “unwarranted accusations of misconduct.”
But sky-high costs and technical problems have kept some forces from signing on.
The chief of the Halifax Regional Police recently recommended against a body-camera project, citing the cost, as did the Hamilton Police Service, which found research hadn’t proven their worth.
In late 2016, the RCMP announced it was postponing a rollout of cameras that was supposed to be force-wide.
Some Canadian police services, including the RCMP, are watching Toronto’s attempt to identify body-camera technology that’s both practical and cost-effective, Barsky said.
“Many of the smaller services and the RCMP are standing back to see what comes from Toronto,” he said.
If the right technology is found, it would still be over a year before any recommendation to proceed is brought to the Toronto police chief and the civilian board, which will have final say.
There is little academic research examining the Canadian context when it comes to polic- ing and body-worn cameras. But one evaluation coming out of the University of Toronto warned services not to rush when it comes to investing in the pricey technology, noting “it’s not a magic bullet” when it comes to increasing accountability.