More Windsor police officers getting body-worn microphones and in-car cameras

The Windsor Police Service is equipping more frontline patrol officers with in-car cameras and body-worn microphones.

Between June 3 and Sept. 2, there were 26 frontline officers equipped with these devices as part of a pilot project.

Some ideas are no-brainers, but testing is still needed to confirm.

“The pilot was exactly what I thought it would be,” said Shawn Diotte, technical lead for the pilot project.

It saw 26 officers trained on body-worn microphones and in-car cameras.

“Overall, [feedback was] positive from the officers on the road,” Diotte told CTV News.

He said police have been able to capture invaluable evidence during the pilot related to stolen vehicles, wanted suspects and has helped identify suspended drivers.

“It's stuff that if those cameras and system is not there, we're not capturing those things in the moment and that's completely invaluable when it comes to dealing with the court process after the fact,” Diotte said.

The project now moves into the next phase, which will see 40 frontline supervisors in line to get trained. The eventual plan is to have up to 250 officers trained and using the body-worn microphones sometime next year.

The officers turn on both the audio and video before engaging with the public.

“There's a lot of advantages to capturing that audio, with the in-car cameras, of course, depending on which way the car's facing and what they're dealing with. Some of that will be captured on video,” said CTV public safety analyst Chris Lewis.

He feels the best-case scenario would be to have body-worn cameras, that include audio, on all officers, like at many police departments in Canada.

“This is Windsor police doing their best in terms of trying to meet all those goals and ultimately, over time, they'll decide whether they want to spend the extra money to go over the cameras,” said Lewis.

There are currently no body-worn cameras being used by Windsor police and no known plans to acquire any at this time.

“The bigger you get and the more equipment you get, the more infrastructure required and the bigger cost to the taxpayer,” said Lewis.

-- With files from Melanie Kentner.