Police officers working in downtown Edmonton will have a new addition to their uniforms that act as an extra set of eyes and ears.

As part of a new year-long pilot project beginning Wednesday, 20 small Body Worn Video (BWV) recording systems will be rolled out into the line of duty. The cameras will have the ability to tape audio and video of an officers interaction with the public while they are investigating an incident.

“It’s a new piece of technology that’s emerged onto the policing scene and holds some potentials that we would be interested in,” said Supt. Ed Keller with the information and technology branch for city police.

“We would like to see if those potentials can live up to their ability in operational police work and really that’s the ability to objectively and accurately record an interaction a police officer has with someone in the public while they are investigating an incident.”

According to project coordinator and Edmonton based researcher Dr. Mary Stratton, the technology is new to Canada.

When designing the assessment, Stratton looked at other jurisdictions that have tried the technology, such as the U.S. and the U.K. The U.K. had a positive response, but there were many shortcomings about the equipment, such as the quality in active situations.

A small study also took place in Victoria, B.C. in 2009, but Stratton said the equipment was too expensive so it was not made permanent.

Despite those studies, Stratton said there hasn’t been a professionally designed systematic assessment that has been conducted as long as the Edmonton study will take place.

During the next year, officials will be looking at how the camera functions in different conditions, the quality of the video, whether it can be worn effectively and safely by the officers, and what the outcomes are of the video it produces from investigations.

“It’s intended to be used in court and the video and the data will be handled and processed in such a way that it can be used as evidence,” said Stratton, noting no other studies have taken place in cold winter climates.

“The research is very limited so that’s why we’re doing this study.”

So how does it work? The camera, which is about the size of an iPhone, straps onto the opposite side of the radio on an officer’s uniform.

It will be tested by regular patrols and some beat members, and can capture footage within 120 degrees of its vision.

The footage is then stored on servers and a database. The cost for the cameras is just under $1,000.

Of course, the camera comes with a detailed list of protocols for recording.

When a member is out on general patrol, Keller said the camera won’t be recording people passing by. The record button will only be pushed when an officer is dispatched to investigate an incident — as long as it’s safe to do so.

Officers also must announce on camera when an individual is being recorded.

“This is an overt device. In no way is it meant to be secretive,” said Keller, noting officers in Edmonton don’t have video cameras mounted in their cars. Video cameras are only used by a few members in speciality areas.

“How usable is a video of an officer running down a lane when it’s dark at night? I’m not sure. The potential that it holds is to bring back an accurate, objective recollection of what happened. There is probably many instances where that’s a benefit.”

The study is a joint project between the Edmonton Police Service and the Canadian Police Research Centre in Ottawa. Edmonton police have no plans at the moment to permanently use the technology once the pilot is complete.

pamela.roth@sunmedia.ca

@SUNpamelaroth