Hamilton Police Association: no objection to body cam pilot project

If Hamilton gets a police body camera pilot project, the Hamilton Police Association says it won’t object.

The Hamilton Police Services Board deferred any decision on implementing the pilot project for a third time at its Nov. 16 meeting.

The police services board went along with a police recommendation saying there was no need for officers to wear cameras right now, citing research that claims they’re not worth the money because Canada doesn’t have the same tensions between police and public as the U.S.

Hamilton Police Association president Clint Twolan says the union wouldn’t object because body cameras won’t change the way police officers do their jobs.

Twolan says most officers are trained to “expect to be filmed at every incident. It’s not going to change our behaviour by having a camera attached to our lapel,” he said.

“We’re going to continue to be professional and act by the rules and parameters set out for us. It won’t change the way we behave, but I suspect it will change the way the public behaves.”

Twolan adds “in most cases it would be positive for officers. It would support their narrative.”

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He suggests there are better ways to spend the money, however, citing the immediate need for more front-line officers.

LISTEN: Clint Twolan, president of the Hamilton Police Association, joins The Bill Kelly Show

The budget for a two-year pilot project runs from $814,757 for a test of 10 cameras to $859,847 for a test of 100 cameras.

The cost of the hardware is only one item in that budget; there’s storage of the video and the biggest line item is the money for technicians to run the program.  That alone is $774, 947 over two years.