Toronto Police gets a step closer to issuing so-called 'body-worn' cameras to frontline police officers.
The civilian oversight board granted the Chief's request on Thursday to give the service $500,000 to set up a bidding process for companies that can provide the cameras, computers, and other equipment needed to outfit the force.
Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders says it will allow further research into the resources it will take to roll out the estimated $85-million program.
Saunders has said a body camera pilot project showed promise, but a final decision on whether or not to adopt the cameras is months away, at the very least.
The force moved to study the program to address concerns over police accountability and transparency.
Critics argue the program won't be effective unless the cameras are rolling at all times, but Saunders insists all the rules will be in place to make sure that officers keep them switched off only at the appropriate moments.
"The officers are going to be trained with every tool that they have," Saunders says.
"There's judgment training for when they should and shouldn't use their equipment."
The Chief stresses that Ontario's privacy commissioner has made recommendations surrounding when and where cameras should be rolling and adds that its not realistic to expect the cameras should record an officer's entire shift.
He uses situations where minors or victims of sexual assault are involved as examples of those when the camera should be turned off.
Saunders adds that officers who might turn off their cameras to hide inappropriate conduct will have to answer for it.
"By and large, the vast (majority) of members of the Toronto Police Service are not there to circumvent (the rules); they're out there to do the right thing for the right reasons," he says.