Body worn video (BWV) and In-Car Video (ICV), also known as Dash Cameras, are two of many technical tools accessible to police agencies across the world.

After a lengthy pilot project and public review, the Edmonton Police Service decided to end its pilot project. However, with respect to other viable video technology, and recognizing the other emerging technologies that exist today, the EPS is currently in the beginning stages of researching in-car video (ICV) as another possible video solution in comparison. The ICV systems generally have a wider field of view than their body worn counterparts, which would provide a better perspective of recorded events for investigations and training. We believe this would be a good first step into video capturing technology.

The EPS will continue to provide updates with respect to its decisions around video technology.

EPS' 3-Year Body Worn Video Pilot Project

The Edmonton Police Service ran a BWV pilot project from October 2011 thru December 2014, with operational testing in a variety of environments from October 2012 thru July 2014, to assess its value and capabilities.

Throughout the pilot project, the EPS focused on analyzing and assessing not only the cameras’ technical performance, but also the legal considerations and usefulness in everyday policing and investigations. A public survey was also conducted to allow the general public and police officers to share their opinions and input on the technology.

Some of the key results from our pilot project study include:

• Substantial data management issues and costs associated with BWV
• The pilot project found no quantitative evidence that BWV has an impact on complaints
• It did assist in the timeliness of completing complaint investigations
• There was no evidence from the pilot that it reduced use of force incidents.

The full BWV pilot report can be found below.

While there are many benefits to BWV, the devices and technology themselves come with significant start-up costs for undetermined evidentiary value.