South Simcoe Police fully outfitted with body-worn cameras

Police outfitted with body cams South Simcoe police officers are outfitted with body-worn cameras to protect themselves and the public.

One year after the roll-out of its pilot project, all officers with the South Simcoe police have now been outfitted with body-worn cameras.

Police have deployed 73 cameras since March 5, recording over 5,000 videos with only one manufacturing failure.

The cameras are part of the police force's initiative towards modernization, giving officers and the public an independent eye on incidents.

"It has actually helped to defuse some conversations," said Sean Willan, Acting Staff Sergeant of Patrol Operations with South Simcoe police. "It's been very good evidentiary and has helped to keep everyone honest."

Officers have complete control over the cameras and can switch them on and off at their discretion. However, Staff Sgt. Willan said officers must have the cameras on during any "investigative contact."

"So if they're part of an investigation, performing traffic duty, an officer is required to turn on their cameras," he said. "That camera also back records by 30 seconds, so as they activate the camera, it shows the previous 30 seconds, but there is no audio involved."

The South Simcoe Police Service said it has teams that make random checks of the camera footage to ensure officers are deploying them in the field. Video files are also attached to the incident or investigation as well to ensure there are no discrepancies between the paperwork and the footage.

"It's been extremely useful and is very useful for the court purposes," said Matt Kernen, a Traffic & Marine unit constable with the South Simcoe Police Service. "Sometimes, during major incidents, there can be a lot going on that you might miss. If there are certain things you missed, it can be a good tool to review and continue your investigation afterwards."

Last week, a precedent-setting decision was made by an Ontario Court Judge, acquitting a man in Toronto who was charged in October 2021 for impaired driving after it was found that two officers briefly muted the audio of their cameras during their traffic stop. The video was muted for just 26 seconds, according to the ruling.

"An officer does so (turn off camera) at his or her peril," said Mitch Eisen, a criminal defence lawyer in Barrie. "A judge is going to be left wondering what happened during that time."

Body-worn cameras are relatively new, but the use of camera footage has been brought up in previous cases, according to Eisen.

"For years, with interviews at police stations, if it's clear from the officer's notes that an interview started at noon, for example, but the camera at the station doesn't get turned on until 12:15 p.m., a judge is left wondering what was happening during those 15 minutes," Eisen added.

For sensitive matters that need censorship and redactions, the police service has hired a whole team to ensure that footage is appropriately vetted.

The body camera footage is also uploaded automatically to a cloud-based system at the end of each shift through the manufacturer of the cameras, Axon.

Staff Sgt. Willan said police have two backup cameras and will purchase more for every new officer hired, of which two are already in training at the Ontario Police College.