Belleville Police Service uses Body Worn Cameras (BWC) from Axon Public Safety Canada.
In January 2021 Ontario Solicitor General Sylvia Jones that the province had awarded Axon Public Safety Camera with a contract for a digital evidence management system and that they would pay for 45% of cost of using Axon’s services for a period of 1 year.
In March 2021, the Belleville Police Services Board approved the Police Chief’s recommendation to enter into a 90 day free trial of Axon Public Safety’s BWC’s “unlimited package”.
Many Ontario police agencies have embarked on pilot programs involving body worn cameras including the Toronto Police Service, the Peel Regional Police Service, the Durham Regional Police Service, the Guelph Police Service, the Waterloo Regional Police Service, the Barrie Police Service, and the St. Thomas Police Service. The Toronto Police Service recently announced that it will be moving forward with a rollout of BWC’s for all of it’s front line officers to be completed by October of this year.
Although there are several providers of cameras all of the previously mentioned police agencies have chosen to enter into contracts with Axon Enterprise Inc. On January 20, 2021 the Ontario Solicitor General Sylvia Jones announced that the province would be moving forward with a new digital evidence management system for police and that Axon Public Safety Canada won the contract for this project. The cloud based system for data storage is Ontario based and eliminates the need to copy evidence onto USB sticks and DVD’s for disclosure to the Crown Attorney’s Offices. The province also announced that it will pay a portion of the licensing fees (45%) for the first year of those Services using Axon’s Evidence.Com. This announcement clearly renders Axon the vendor of choice for supplying both the body worn cameras and the digital evidence management program (Evidence.Com).
Attached is a quote received from Stefan Schurman, the Senior regional Manager for Axon for two BWC packages on five-year contracts. The quotes are for 70 cameras required to equip all of the officers involved in front line policing with the Belleville Police Service. It should be noted that there are many different features and add ons that are offered by Axon that can be added onto existing packages for a fee.
On March 10, 2021 Deputy Chief Barry secured a commitment from Stefan Schurman to enter into a pilot program with the Belleville Police Service to provide 28 BWC’s and an additional 8 Evidence.Com licenses for a 90 day trial period. These would be provided at no cost to the Service and would provide access to the unlimited package with all of the available features. The number of cameras is based on equipping the platoon officers on day shift and night shift with cameras that would be shared as opposed to individually issued. These would also be issued to the four members of the Traffic Safety Unit. The devices require recharging and download times at the completion of a shift so there is a need for enough to cover two shifts of officers per day.
Should we agree to enter into this pilot, tentatively planned for the 4th quarter of 2021 we would be in a position to evaluate these features and determine which ones hold value for our Service to assist in decision making on whether to proceed with a contract with Axon in 2022. It is important to note that the tentative start date in the 4th quarter of this year is required as there will be a need to develop strict policy and procedures for the use of the cameras. If a decision is made to enter into the pilot it is proposed that both an internal and community survey be created and distributed both prior to the rollout of the cameras and at the completion of the 90 day trial period to assist in making a decision about entering into a fixed contract with Axon.
Belleville Police Services Board report
When we’re living in such a litigious society right now and understanding the ramifications from public complaints, we believe that this is an opportunity for us to embrace the technology and use it to assist with the challenge of transparency in policing across North America.
Police Chief Mike Callaghan
The estimated cost per year for 70 body cameras from Axon for 5 years to equip all of the officers involved in front line policing would be:
- $409,298 for Basic + TAP
- $666,958 for AB3 Unlimited
Surveys
An internal survey of 38 officers during the free trial found that:
- 15% were strongly in favour
- 43% were in favour
- 34% were neither in favour or opposed
- 8% were strongly opposed
While 79% of the 463 respondents to the public survey for the community were in support of Belleville Police officers wearing body cameras.
In January 2023, Belleville Police Service upgraded to the OSP7+ package which cost $325,797 per year.
Annual reports
In 2022, our Service concluded a pilot program for Body Worn Cameras and made the decision to implement it for all our front line officers.
2022 Annual Report
Axon Officer Safety Plan
2023 Annual Report
Body-Worn Cameras (BWC): The rollout of Axon body-worn cameras continued in 2023 for their second year, providing transparency and safety for both officers and the community.
In 2024, body-worn camera footage was utilized in nearly every instance to investigate, mediate, and resolve public complaints.
2024 Annual Report
Video recorded by the BWCs can be viewed remotely in real-time at the Belleville police station.
