Toronto police will roll out a pilot project to test the use of body-worn cameras on front-line officers this year, following up on a recommendation in a 2013 report.

Deputy chief Peter Sloly said the project, approved last week by Chief Bill Blair, will go ahead this year, though most details still need to be hashed out.

“There are a lot of different variables that are part of this,” said Sloly. “It’s not just clipping a camera onto an officer’s lapel. There’s policy issues, there’s IT issues, there’s budget issues.”

Sloly said research across the continent suggests body-worn cameras — often called lapel cameras — moderate the behaviour of both police officers and the people they interact with.

“Complaints come down as a result of it, not just because the officer’s behaviour is moderated but someone who knows that they’re on camera also is a lot more civil and co-operative with the officer,” said Sloly.

Sloly said the potential use of body-worn cameras is a “natural progression.” Toronto police installed cameras in booking halls in the 1990s, followed by interview rooms and dashboard cameras on squad cars.

“In the vast majority of cases, the cameras in there protected the officers against malicious allegations or wrongful allegations,” said Sloly. “In other cases, it held officers to account that were breaking the rules and there was a video record of it.”

The 2013 Police and Community Engagement Review, a report that stemmed from widespread concern about bias in police street checks — once known as “carding” — called for the force to “explore the possibility of equipping all uniform officers with body worn video (body cameras).”

A similar recommendation was issued last week following a coroner’s inquest into the deaths of three mentally ill people shot dead by police. The jury ruled the deaths of Sylvia Klibingaitis, Michael Eligon and Reyal Jardine-Douglas to be homicides, and recommended that Toronto police consider adopting the cameras along with other equipment that could prevent similar deaths in future.

A ruling of homicide at a coroner’s inquest means another person’s actions caused death but does not carry criminal implications.

Police forces across Canada are experimenting with the use of body-worn cameras. The Calgary police force launched a pilot in November 2012, strapping cellphone-sized cameras on about 50 officers. It declared the program a success and plans to expand its use across the force.

Edmonton, Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal are also testing them out.

A one-year study conducted in Rialto, Calif., found that use of force incidents dropped about 60 per cent when officers wore cameras. Complaints against officers were reduced by nearly 90 per cent.

The American Civil Liberties Union put its support behind the use of body-worn cameras last fall “because of their potential to serve as a check against the abuse of power by police officers.”

“Cameras have the potential to be a win-win, helping protect the public against police misconduct, and at the same time helping protect police against false accusations of abuse,” an October 2013 report noted.

Joe Couto, a spokesperson with the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, said the technology could enhance accountability and serve as a valuable investigative tool. But it also raises concerns about privacy and the costs are prohibitive, he said.

There’s some very positive things that that type of technology can give us, but there’s a lot of questions still that need to be asked,” he said.

Police association president Mike McCormack said the union will meet with senior management later this month to discuss body-worn cameras.

“Our position is that with the economics surrounding policing, that the police dollars are so tight that we want to make sure that there’s a thorough cost-benefit analysis,” said McCormack.

“If we have our staffing where it needs to be and equipment, i.e. tasers and so on, that (is) funded, then we have no problem sitting around having a discussion about lapel cameras.”

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The cost of body-worn cameras ranges from hundreds to thousands of dollars.

“We’re at the beginning steps of this. There’s a lot of things that have to be worked out before we can go out and start wearing lapel cameras,” said McCormack.