Winnipeg police launching body camera pilot next week

Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) says it is launching a body-worn camera pilot program aimed to increase public’s trust in the police force starting next Wednesday.

As part of the six-month pilot project, 40 frontline officers will wear a body camera during their regular duties. The Axon Body 4 cameras will record police interactions with the public while responding to calls and during investigations.

At a press conference announcing the project Friday, George Labossière, deputy chief of operations at WPS said, “Police need to be more transparent in the action that they take.”

“We also recognize that it’s an opportunity for police accountability,” Labossière added. “We owe it to the membership, we owe it to the police service, but more importantly to the citizens of Winnipeg.”

Through this pilot, WPS will evaluate how Axon Body 4 cameras work on the field and help officers on the job or in court proceedings.

The pilot project is free based on an agreement between WPS and Axon. While WPS estimates that the initial roll out to 700 officers may cost between $1 to $2 million, Labossiere said it was too early to put a final price tag.

“We are prepared to bear that cost, if need be, because we feel that is something the public deserves,” Labossière said.

Police say that the officers are required to notify people that they are being recorded for privacy reasons.

Colleen Mayer, chair of Winnipeg Police Board says at this time she doesnt have any privacy concerns with the use of body cameras.

“We will monitor that as it comes forward should the situation present itself the service will manage that,” Mayer said.

WPS said the data from body-worn cameras will be made public and will be discarded when the evidence is no longer needed. The video may be presented in courts as evidence.

WPS is also seeking public’s feedback during the pilot project through community forums and an online survey. More information can be found on the WPS website.

At the police board meeting Friday, WPS presented a report on the Rapid Response Unit launched last month.

Art Stannard, deputy chief of Support Services at WPS, said the Rapid Response Unit received 377 calls on Sunday during the hostage situation. He said 77 crews responded to the incident.

“In this case, we had to call on a number of resources over the weekend to address it and to get the queue down to a manageable number,” Stannard said. “I am not saying get down to zero, but just to get down to number that we can tolerate.”

WPS says it will be asking for $3 million more in next year’s budget to hire an additional 36 officers.

“Winnipeg is growing every year, the neighbourhoods are growing, unfortunately, the police coverage of these areas is not growing,” Stannard said.