Racial Profiling in Policing

Kenora OPP will test 12 in-cruiser cameras

First time devices used in Canada

By JANET GIBSON, Sun Media

KENORA -- Like a black box in an airplane, it's indestructible. A digital video camera mounted inside a police cruiser was displayed by the Kenora OPP yesterday, part of a three-year pilot project that kicks off March

COMBAT RACIAL PROFILING

The OPP will test 12 in-cruiser video cameras in Kenora and 22 in Toronto -- the first time such cameras have been used by a police force in Canada.

The cameras will help the OPP maintain the highest standards of professionalism, enhance safety for the police and the public and combat racial profiling, said North West region OPP commander Supt. Mike Armstrong.

The project was first announced in December 2003, one day after the Ontario Human Rights Commission released a report recommending cameras be installed in police cruisers to combat racial profiling.

At the time, OPP Chief Supt. John Carson said the cameras will prove the police don't engage in profiling. While the Kenora OPP has made a plan to train its officers in the use of the cameras, it hasn't decided when the cameras will be turned on, how long it will retain the video and when it can release the video.

The "digital eyewitness" cameras, purchased for $12,000 apiece from Kustom Signals Inc. in the U.S., capture audio and video for nine hours and 20 minutes at a stretch. They can be recorded over 80,000 to 100,000 times, said Kenora OPP Const. John McDougall who, with Kenora OPP Sgt. Paul Van Belleghem, will train 22 fellow officers.

Kenora and Toronto were chosen to give the project a north/south perspective, Armstrong said. While Kenora has an extreme climate, with temperatures ranging from --30 C to 30 C, both cities have diverse populations.

Armstrong said there's a "great deal of excitement" in the detachment because it's participating in the pilot project.

Kenora resident Barb Martin said the cameras are a good idea.

"It's going to help with issues such as discrimination," she said. "What you're going to see is how things are handled."

TORONTO