Body cams have reached the Chatham-Kent Police Service.
Starting last week, eight front-line officers began wearing body cameras while on the job. Eventually, 120 members will sport the video devices, including the Emergency Response Team, CKPS’s tactical team.
The cameras will be used during interactions with the public, including traffic stops, calls for service, and enforcement activities.
Officers will follow strict protocols regarding the activation, deactivation, and storage of recorded footage in accordance with privacy regulations and legal standards, according to the police service.
Kirk Earley, chief of police, said the equipment rollout is intentionally slow. Starting with the initial eight officers wearing the cameras instead of doing a full-scale rollout for all front-line officers allows for easier training for everyone involved.
“We’re trying to take a small group and train them in it initially,” Earley said, adding the first eight body cams are all attached to the gear of traffic unit members.
On top of training the officers, records personnel will be trained on collecting the data and storing it.
“That’s a lot of collection of data in our records department,” Earley said.
Earley believes the cameras will be beneficial to officers and the public.
“First and foremost, there’s an enhancement to transparency for both sides. In the courts, (video) is the best evidence,” he said.
The chief said the service receives its fair share of complaints against officers, and some are “vexatious.” The footage collected on body cams will help quickly weed out many of those types of claims.
CKPS is the 35th service in the province with body cams. Earley said the others have seen a “significant” drop in complaints against officers.
“They (the public) can see the camera and the light flashing,” he said.
Earley expects officers to embrace the body cams, once the learning curve for the devices runs its course.
One part of that learning curve, he said, is learning that there are times the body cams will turn on themselves, but there are other moments when the officers will have to activate them.
“There are times when the camera will turn on automatically. As soon as an officer hits the lights in their cruiser, for example, the body cam turns on,” he said.
CKPS will provide extensive training for officers on using body cams “while ensuring they understand the operational guidelines and best practices associated with the technology,” according to a police media release.
Implementing these cameras comes with a price. It’s included in a 10-year, $5.3-million contract with Axon Canada, a public safety tech company. Axon supplies the cameras, software, data storage and training for the body cameras. The body cams will also be refreshed every two years, Earley said.
Axon also provides all software for the police drone program, as well as the service’s Tasers.
The body cameras come as part of CKPS’s 2025 strategic plan.
