All OPP vehicles are now equipped with technology that can instantaneously read licence plates and flag issues for officers, among other advancements rolled out in the police service’s new in-car camera system.
Members of the Orillia OPP detachment gave a presentation on the new tech to city council on Monday, stressing the technology is meant to facilitate police officers' work and improve the safety of both the public and the police.
“It's basically an audio and video recording device that we have within our patrol vehicle,” said OPP Sgt. Jonathan Bouchard. “One lens is literally to just record what is being observed by the cruiser. The secondary lens … is the automatic licence plate reader system.”
The recording system, which does not automatically store footage, can be manually engaged by officers, and the technology can capture 30 seconds of footage prior to actually being engaged in its recordings.
The system can also be automatically engaged by the vehicle, if, for example, a cruiser goes quicker than 150 km/h, Bouchard said.
“It is not intended for 24-hour recording, so what's going on is it's recording all the time, (but) it is not saving it,” Bouchard explained. “In the event the officer activates the camera system, it will start recording it from 30 seconds prior.”
The system’s licence plate reader, similarly, does not give officers instantaneous information on every vehicle that passes by, but it is able to do so if the reader finds any infractions associated with the plates, Bouchard explained.
If an infraction is flagged, officers are given an audible alert. Some of things it will flag for officers are as follows:
- Expired plates, expired driver's licences;
- Suspended drivers'
- Drivers without insurance;
- The registered owner of the vehicle is wanted for a criminal offence;
- Missing persons'
- Plates added by OPP officers to the system, for a lawful reason, such as to locate someone who has made suicidal threats
“As an enforcement public safety tool, this will greatly reduce the number of infractions being committed on our roadways and enhance public safety,” Bouchard said.
Whereas humans are prone to error, the in-car camera system provides accurate, up-to-the-second observation, Bouchard said.
“We're human; we're a little bit slower. By the time you get results, there's a delay factor,” he said. “With this system it’s instantaneous: the car goes by, you already have the result on the system. It's already alerted you if you have an issue.”
Also included in the system is a rear-facing camera, within the vehicle, that records audio and video whenever an apprehended subject is inside.
“If we have someone in the backseat, the rear camera has to be on,” Bouchard said. “If we are transporting a prisoner back to the detachment, the camera’s rolling the entire transport time, which can provide evidence to the officers, for example, if they're banging their heads, or they're trying to kick the windows off the cruiser.”
All recorded data is uploaded to the OPP’s digital evidence monitoring system.
“It's all uploaded through the cloud instantaneously, … (and) I can review the video immediately,” Bouchard said. “Before I even have time (to finish) my typing, which takes about 45 seconds, it's already on the cloud. It's available for disclosure. It's pretty impressive, and then we have people at the office that will be responsible for disclosing these videos at court, as well.”
In the coming months, Bouchard said the OPP will have body cameras that work in tandem with the in-car camera system.
“As soon as one of the two systems activates, it automatically trips the secondary system,” Bouchard said. “It will be (a) full transparent system, and we will have a true, 100 per cent account of what happened with members of the public, the subject we’ve interacted with, and there will be no questions, ifs, ands or buts around it.”
That said, Bouchard made it clear the OPP will not engage in covert practices with the technology, citing laws at the provincial and federal level.
“These cameras are not used for the purpose of doing covert operations, and that's from a ruling from the Supreme Court of Canada, R vs. Duarte in 1990, that emphasizes that interactions between the police and the public should not be secretly recorded without judicial authorization,” he said.
OPP officials took questions from council following their presentation
“My concerns are guns and ammunition that are coming across our borders and creating the problems in our schools, and so on, and car thefts and human trafficking. Will these cameras assist you in any part of that?” asked Coun. Ralph Cipolla.
“The cameras will assist us for both traffic violations and criminal investigations,” Bouchard said. “We can type in any plate number and flag it for anything, right, so we can put a notation on a plate that we know that the driver is involved in criminality.”
“The goal is twofold: We want to enhance public safety and also, ultimately, we also want to enhance officer safety, so before they even interact with this individual, we will know what we are going into," said Bouchard.
Coun. Jay Fallis asked who will be able to review captured footage, and whether all vehicles will be equipped with the technology.
“100 per cent of the OPP frontline vehicles, anyone doing calls for service, will have the in-car cameras installed,” Bouchard said.
As for video review, Bouchard said only the officers who recorded the footage, and their superiors, will have direct access to it.
“I can review any person who directly reports to myself, and at the constable level of guys doing the hard work on the road, they can only review their own video,” he said. “They have no access to reviewing their peers' videos.”
