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Halton Regional Police Service first in Ontario to adopt electronic notes
August 25, 2021 By Canadian Press
Aug. 25, 2021 – On Aug. 25, the Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) announced the adoption of electronic notes (eNotes).
The HRPS is the first police agency in Ontario, and only the second in Canada, to transition their members from traditional paper-based notes to electronic notes.
“Note-taking in the policing sector has not evolved in over 100 years and we are proud to be adopting technology that the newest generation of officers expect and want,” said Deputy Chief Roger Wilkie. “This is just one of the latest ways the HRPS is striving to optimize effectiveness and efficiency by purposefully harnessing innovative technology.”
The HRPS eNotes application contains various features the service recognizes as key to policing operations. Officers are now more mobile than ever and are no longer constrained by limitations of paper notes or tied to the computer in their cruisers. They can now access and add to police databases and record systems from anywhere. The use of eNotes also equips officers with a secure means to obtain audio statements and take supplementary photos or recordings. All of these new functions allow for more transparency and credibility to officer notes and include time-stamped entries and increased legibility.
About one-third of HRPS sworn members received extensive training and successfully transitioned to eNotes using the Smart Squad application by Faction Four Systems Inc. on service-issued cellphones when the launch was announced. All sworn members will be fully trained by early 2022.
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