Toronto police to try body cameras

The Toronto Police Service announced that it will explore the use of body-worn cameras for a one-year pilot project with the goal to lower complaints against police and ultimately lead to less violence.

The police will buy 100 body cameras and distribute them to officers in selected units and divisions in the city: 43 and 55 Divisions, traffic enforcement officers and the Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy (TAVIS) team. This will truly give officers a sense of what works and what doesn’t in the city, police say.

"The general research is the body-worn camera modifies the behaviour of the police officer and the member of the public – it's a two-way street," said Deputy Chief Peter Sloly. "It is protecting their cops against malicious investigations, it modifies the behaviour of the person they're dealing with, it provides best evidence in cases."

Feedback from police chiefs has shown that both the public and police officers have embraced the technology, said Sloly.

The pilot project is the result of one of the recommendations in the service's Policing And Community Engagement Review and Police Encounters With People In Crisis, a report commissioned after the killing of Sammy Yatim, a teen shot on a downtown streetcar in 2013.