There’s still no updated timeline for Greater Sudbury Police Service’s rollout of body-worn cameras, though interim acting Chief Natalie Hiltz affirmed that they’re still working on it.
Meanwhile, other police agencies throughout the province are at varying stages of adopting body-worn cameras, including a few that have fully implemented their use.
New North Bay Police Chief Daryl Longworth wants to take his time on the potential rollout of police body-worn cameras.
"I know there are a number of IT projects on the go right now and I don't want to do too much, too fast where we are not delivering on those primary expectations of emergency response and serving the needs from a public protection view," said Longworth
See:New Chief prioritizing before rolling out body-worn cameras
“There has been a delay,” Chief Hiltz told Sudbury.com this week, adding that “delay should not be confused with inaction.”
“There has been a lot of work that’s been going on behind the scenes, and when I looked around other agencies throughout the province and country, delays with body-worn camera programs and initiatives are not uncommon,” she said.
The delay centres around policies, training and technical matters behind the scenes, she clarified, noting that last year’s city council greenlight on hiring 26 GSPS staff members in 2024-25 will help.
A digital evidence processor is expected to start work soon, she said, and other staff have already been working on the back-end technology and processes to get ready for the cameras.
“We have a delay, but we have been busy standing this up on the back end before we pull the switch.”
The Greater Sudbury Police Board approved a budget allocation for body-worn cameras in January 2021, and entered into an agreement later that year with Axon Public Safety Canada to purchase cameras.
At the time, then-chief Paul Pedersen anticipated a fall 2022 rollout for body-worn cameras.
No cameras are currently in use, though funding remains available for their purchase. Hiltz declined this week to share a projected timeline for the cameras’ rollout.
“It might be a timeline that we may or may not be able to deliver on,” Hiltz explained, later adding that updates will be provided through future police board meetings.
When they do begin rolling out, it’ll start as a pilot program with a small subset of frontline staff to help work out kinks before expanding it to the entirety of GSPS.
Despite the local delay, Hilts clarified that GSPS remains committed to adopting body-worn cameras.
“This is a piece of tech that we want, and our officers want,” she said. “It’s been found to improve positive interactions between police and the public, it makes people feel safer, it reduces citizen complaints and increases arrests, prosecutions and guilty pleas. ... It makes us better.”
While Greater Sudbury Police Service continues grappling with implementing body-worn cameras, Hamilton Police Service reported last month that 17 police agencies in Ontario currently use body-worn cameras and that an additional 18 are considering it.
The City of Greater Sudbury’s council-approved list of comparator municipalities (used within their Salary Administration Plan), includes the following 11 Ontario municipalities. Between online resources and phone and email correspondence, Sudbury.com dug up the latest from each municipality’s police agency regarding their body-worn camera efforts.
Municipality of Chatham-Kent
- Chatham-Kent Police Service is rolling out body-worn cameras for all front-line officers this year.
City of Thunder Bay
- Thunder Bay Police Service began deploying body-worn cameras on April 12, 2021. All frontline officers had body-worn cameras by the following year.
City of Kingston
- Kingston Police have money set aside for a pilot project, but they have not commenced it as yet.
City of Oshawa
- Durham Regional Police Service began phasing in body-worn cameras on Sept. 16, 2021, following a year-long pilot project. “All of our Divisional units, K9 and Tactical Support Unit have body cameras,” a spokesperson confirmed to Sudbury.com.
City of Burlington / Region of Halton
- Halton Regional Police Service have 24 body-worn cameras being used during protests, a pilot with Mental Health Rapid Response Team and training for their Tactical Rescue unit. They are reportedly not ready to roll them out to all front-line members.
City of Kitchener / Region of Waterloo
- Waterloo Regional Police Service launched a pilot program in 2021 including 70 body-worn cameras and in-car cameras. This program was successful, a spokesperson told Sudbury.com, and they started a rollout for all frontline staff in 2023, which they anticipate will be fully implemented by 2025.
City of London
- London Police Service does not currently use body-worn cameras, though funding for them was requested as part of their next multi-year budget, which was approved earlier this year.
City of Hamilton
- Hamilton Police Service saw its board approve the purchase of 500 body-worn cameras last month. Sudbury.com reached out to clarify whether any are currently being used but did not receive a response.
Region of Niagara
- Niagara Regional Police Service has not implemented body-worn cameras, and a spokesperson noted they “continue to examine the plan to implement them, inclusive of the budgetary considerations.” There is not currently any money budgeted for cameras, and they’re examining a proposal.
Sudbury.com’s inquiry regarding body-worn cameras was sparked by a letter to the editor published earlier this week in which the author criticized GSPS’s apparent lack of movement.
In addition to clarifying that GSPS was still working toward the goal of implementing body-worn cameras, Hiltz also clarified that the automated speed-enforcement cameras cited in the letter are an effort of the City of Greater Sudbury, as approved by city council. Whatever revenue they generate will go to the municipality.
GSPS is also in the process of rolling out automated licence plate readers, which automatically scan licence plates through a dashboard-mounted camera to flag problem vehicles. This data will be downloaded into the same system body-worn camera data will be downloaded into.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
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