A Sarnia resident is calling on the city police department and Lambton OPP to outfit all of their officers with body-worn cameras.
Michael Anthony Whitstone, 26, who lives on Earlscourt Drive, told Sarnia News Today he would feel more comfortable if the equipment was used by local officers.
"It makes a person feel more safe, [especially] knowing that they are coming in contact with somebody that is equipped to do harm to you as a person if needed," Whitstone said. "People need to feel more comfortable with police nowadays, especially with what's going on in the world."
Whitstone, a member of Onion Lake Cree Nation which straddles the Alberta/Saskatchewan provincial border, believes the technology would eliminate cases where unsubstantiated statements lead to arrests.
He said it's much harder for officers to deny incidents when captured on video and audio.
"I believe that with body cameras, the police can now officially be held accountable for every time that they come into contact or interact with a person of the community."
"I've had multiple run-ins with the police and these police were not equipped with body cameras and it has affected my life in a bad situation. I feel like with the body camera, that definitely could have opened some eyes to the actual real situation that actually took place at the time."
Sarnia's Criminal Court Division told Sarnia News Today that Whitstone was ordered to serve probation for two of the charges. The charge of failure or refusal to comply with demand was withdrawn.
Sarnia Police Chief Derek Davis, who came from the Halton Regional Police Service and was sworn into the role in June, believes Sarnia police have explored purchasing body-worn cameras in the past and he's planning to pursue it again in the future.
"My former employer was part of a much larger rollout of in-car cameras and I'm very familiar with police video," said Davis. "I see police video as being very advantageous to a police service. It's great for complaint resolution, it's great for protecting our officers, for providing evidence in court. There's a lot of positives that come with a police video program."
Davis said right now, getting the cameras comes down to priorities.
"We have a lot of initiatives underway right now. A lot of our town hall sessions focused on some immediate needs of the community. So, the police video possibility is a priority, but I wouldn't say it's a top priority for us in the near future."
However, Davis believes getting police video is inevitable.
He said body-worn cameras and in-car cameras are similar in terms of system and support, in processing and disclosure, but said they come with different impact factors in terms of cost and administrative workload to maintain.
"If I had to pick from the two, I would say the greatest return on investment is the in-car cameras. The cameras are mounted inside the vehicle and the officer usually wears some sort of a transmitting microphone within range of the system."
Chief Davis said they provide continuity with people in custody.
"There's a rear seat camera where all interactions with individuals are recorded. Things that are important in court. So, it does solve a lot of problems. Body-worn cameras are [also] good. They have a lot of pros, but they have a few cons as well. One of which, the body-worn does tend to come with a higher burden in terms of administration, and that's things like redacting privacy issues."
Davis said officers often enter people's homes and lives in very private and personal moments.
"With the body-worn camera recording all of those things, not all of the image or audio is relevant to the police involvement and often those particular issues need to be looked at and redacted."
Chief Davis said once steps are taken to acquire the technology, the Sarnia Police Service will look at what is most beneficial and cost effective for the community.
Lambton OPP Cst. Jamie Bydeley told Sarnia News Today some members of Lambton OPP have already been issued body-worn cameras as part of the OPP’s trial phase/rollout.
"The remainder of officers will be outfitted once they are acquired provincially," said Bydeley.
