Of cameras and equipment at the Sûreté du Québec

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Saturday, July 8, 2017 18:03

UPDATE
Saturday, July 8, 2017 18:03

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This is not only the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) of Val-d’or in Abitibi, which will have cameras in its vehicles and its agents.

VAT News has learned that the magnitude of this project will be greater since the police officers of two other stations in the Montreal area will soon be sent to these new facilities: the post highway of Montreal and St-Hyacinthe, in the Montérégie region.

If the cameras are already present in the United States, they are still relatively rare in Quebec.

Thus, at the post highway of Montreal, 14 cruisers will be equipped with cameras on board. The position of the SQ in Saint-Hyacinthe, 78 cameras and equipment will be provided to the police. In Val-d’or, 16 vehicles will be equipped with cameras and 81 cameras and equipment are provided to the police.

In the case of Val-d’or, the grand patron of the Sûreté du Québec had made the announcement to our Office of investigation in the wake of allegations of abuse against aboriginal women in October 2015.

In the cruisers, there will be two cameras: one pointing forward and the other to the back seat, where sat the people in a state of arrest.

The cameras in the cars are triggered automatically as soon as the flashing lights will be operated.

As for the cameras and equipment, they will be triggered manually by the police officer.

In the United States, this type of camera has already helped to clear police officers accused of opening fire too quickly. On the other hand, they can also prove cases of police brutality.

What are the impacts?

The SQ says it wants to measure the impact of these cameras on the quality of the service and on the number of complaints from citizens against police officers. It also intends to quantify the events involving the use of force. The police force wishes to measure the impact on the security of the officers.

Each camera will record metadata: the date, time, GPS location and the badge number of the police officers.

The Association of the provincial police has already shown itself favourable to this type of equipment.

However, the officers on the ground say they fear the administrative burden that will be associated with the identification of all of these images.