Calgary police choose new supplier for body worn cameras

Calgary police have chosen a company to supply body worn cameras for its front-line officers.

Axon Public Safety Canada was selected after a three-month, hands-on testing phase. They were one of three suppliers who responded to a request for proposals last fall.

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The next phase of the program will see 100 front-line officers outfitted with cameras by the end of July.

If that is deemed a success, another 150 cameras will be deployed in November.

Police say all 250 cameras will be used in District 1, which stretches from downtown and the Beltline to just south of ChinookMall. it also covers East Village, Inglewood and Ramsay residential communities, along with the Manchester, Highfield and Burns industrial areas.

"The use of body worn cameras supports the ongoing efforts of the Calgary Police Service to create a safe, transparent, accountable and innovative policing environment for the city of Calgary," CPS said in a release.

Officers wearing the cameras will be required to record all interactions while on duty.

The release says deployment of the body worn cameras is guided by five key principles:

• Collection of evidence.
• Enhancement of transparency, public trust and confidence.
• Enhancement officer accountability and professionalism.
• Protection of officers from unfounded allegations of misconduct.
• De-escalation ofsituations.

The plan is for all front-line officer to be equipped with body worn cameras by the second quarter of 2019, which would require 1,100 devices.

Calgary police officers initially began using body worn cameras in 2016. However, that was scrapped due to technical glitches.

One of the issues identified was that the microphone on the radio portion of 14 of the cameras would get stuck open or stop working altogether.

As a result, CPS terminated the $1.3-million contract with the supplier.

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