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Durham Regional Police Service to begin body worn camera project this week

The year-long Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) Body-Worn Camera (BWC) Pilot Project is set to begin later this week.

June 18, 2018  By Staff



DRPS says it will equip officers from two platoons in West Division, Regional Traffic Enforcement and members of the Festive R.I.D.E. team with BWCs. Approximately 70-80 officers will be outfitted with cameras.
 
“The DRPS has a long history of innovation and leading the way in exploring new technologies to improve community safety in Durham,” Chief Paul Martin said. “Having already taken the step of moving to the cloud for some of our digital evidence, the timing is right for us to field test body cameras. In addition, Axon’s commitment to provide the cameras, accessories and digital evidence service at no cost for the pilot is allowing us to take a measured, evidence-based approach to this important public policy issue.”
 
Members of the BWC Project team explained how the cameras work and how the video will be captured, stored and utilized to media in a demonstration last week at West Division in Pickering.

“Communities in the U.S., U.K. and Australia are seeing great results from their body worn camera deployments in a lot of areas beyond the typical transparency and accountability narrative,” said Vishal Dhir, Axon’s managing director for Canada and Latin America. “We’re seeing targeted programs having positive impacts on addressing specific public safety concerns like IPV (intimate partner violence), faster prosecutions and greater efficiency for officers. I’m looking forward to seeing these positive impacts in Canadian policing.”
 
For more information on the DRPS BWC Project visit https://bit.ly/2MlYLZx.


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