WHEREAS Body-Worn Cameras (BWC) have been adopted by a growing number of police services across the country and the world; widely seen as a real benefit to public trust, transparency, accountability and accuracy, and have been useful in determining what exactly has taken place during confrontations between officers and civilians, aiding in building positive relations with the communities they serve; and
WHEREAS recent hate-filled and brutal displays of anti-Black racism have resulted in preventable deaths and revived community outcry for more oversight and accountability for officers and police services; and
WHEREAS on June 17, 2020 the Parliamentary Black Caucus urged all levels of government to act immediately to eliminate the barriers to access to justice and public security for Black Canadians and Indigenous people, including requiring all on-duty police officers in contact with the public to wear BWCs; and
WHEREAS Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders has said he will fast-track body cameras for all front-line officers within the Toronto Police Service (TPS) due to recent events; and
WHEREAS Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) conducted a year-long BWC pilot from June 2018 to June of 2019, using officers from two units in West Division, Regional Traffic Enforcement and members from the Festive R.I.D.E team; and
WHEREAS approximately 80 officers were outfitted with cameras during the pilot, resulting in 26,600 videos being collected - of which 52 per cent were categorized as evidence and about 30 per cent have been or will be used in criminal and provincial offences trials - and the project manager has said that “I don’t think we’ve seen very much resistance at all - and the officers fairly quickly got comfortable with the technology”, yet no formal recommendations or go-forward plans have been presented to Regional Council; and
WHEREAS on April 21, 2020, DRPS informed their Board that the BWC study was on hold due to the pandemic, and all officers were sent back to their original deployments, further delaying a decision;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT to be responsive to the needs of our community, the Durham Regional Police Services Board (‘Board’) be requested to reconvene the Body-Worn Camera (BWC) team effective immediately as a concrete, tangible action and sign of good faith to the public that DRPS serves; and
THAT Regional Council request the DRPS Police Services Board, at the earliest possible opportunity, have the BWC team present the Police Services Board with a plan of action for BWC implementation, which shall include funding requirements within the current budget, to start phasing in the procurement and outfitting of front-line officers with cameras to eliminate subjectivity in civilian and police interactions; and
THAT Regional Council requests the Board present a delegation to Regional Council by September 2020, or as soon thereafter as is reasonably possible, including a timeline and budget to address this need at the earliest opportunity by September 2020; and
THAT the presentation include an update by the Board regarding the DRPS officer training plan, addressing how officers are trained to handle mental health distress and de-escalation techniques, specifically within the Black and Indigenous community; and
THAT this motion be circulated to the DRPS Board, and all Durham municipalities.
WHEREAS recent hate-filled and brutal displays of anti-Black racism have resulted in preventable deaths and revived community outcry for more oversight and accountability for officers and police services; and
WHEREAS on June 17, 2020 the Parliamentary Black Caucus urged all levels of government to act immediately to eliminate the barriers to access to justice and public security for Black Canadians and Indigenous people, including requiring all on-duty police officers in contact with the public to wear BWCs; and
WHEREAS Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders has said he will fast-track body cameras for all front-line officers within the Toronto Police Service (TPS) due to recent events; and
WHEREAS Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) conducted a year-long BWC pilot from June 2018 to June of 2019, using officers from two units in West Division, Regional Traffic Enforcement and members from the Festive R.I.D.E team; and
WHEREAS approximately 80 officers were outfitted with cameras during the pilot, resulting in 26,600 videos being collected - of which 52 per cent were categorized as evidence and about 30 per cent have been or will be used in criminal and provincial offences trials - and the project manager has said that “I don’t think we’ve seen very much resistance at all - and the officers fairly quickly got comfortable with the technology”, yet no formal recommendations or go-forward plans have been presented to Regional Council; and
WHEREAS on April 21, 2020, DRPS informed their Board that the BWC study was on hold due to the pandemic, and all officers were sent back to their original deployments, further delaying a decision;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT to be responsive to the needs of our community, the Durham Regional Police Services Board (‘Board’) be requested to reconvene the Body-Worn Camera (BWC) team effective immediately as a concrete, tangible action and sign of good faith to the public that DRPS serves; and
THAT Regional Council request the DRPS Police Services Board, at the earliest possible opportunity, have the BWC team present the Police Services Board with a plan of action for BWC implementation, which shall include funding requirements within the current budget, to start phasing in the procurement and outfitting of front-line officers with cameras to eliminate subjectivity in civilian and police interactions; and
THAT Regional Council requests the Board present a delegation to Regional Council by September 2020, or as soon thereafter as is reasonably possible, including a timeline and budget to address this need at the earliest opportunity by September 2020; and
THAT the presentation include an update by the Board regarding the DRPS officer training plan, addressing how officers are trained to handle mental health distress and de-escalation techniques, specifically within the Black and Indigenous community; and
THAT this motion be circulated to the DRPS Board, and all Durham municipalities.
After a tie vote to divide the motion 13 Yes and 13 No which meant the motion to divide failed...and then with more than two hours of deliberations and 4 amendments from Clarington Councillor Joe Neal, seconded by Oshawa Councillor John Neal (two in the Whereas recital section -which have not been updated; and two in the operative Therefore paragraphs which are updated above) at 3:10 p.m. the FINAL vote was 27 Yes and two absent Councillors Bath-Hadden and Chapman.
Somewhere in the discussion it was mentioned that implementation of the Body-Worn Camera will cost upwards of $4 Million.
Somewhere in the discussion it was mentioned that implementation of the Body-Worn Camera will cost upwards of $4 Million.