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This article was published 25/04/2022 (398 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new pilot project paid for by the province will have police in Manitoba collect and manage evidence digitally via cellphone.

The $750,000 program, dubbed “connected officer,” will kit up to 300 police members across the province with cellphones equipped with encrypted applications, Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen told reporters Monday at Winnipeg Police Service headquarters.

The technology will let officers take statements, upload video, picture and audio evidence and record notes digitally via typing or talk-to-text, then send the information to police databases through cloud-computing software.

Goertzen and police involved in the project said the new technology will make officers more efficient in the field, improve the quality of evidence, and reduce the amount of time spent on administrative work. Police will also be able to use the devices to access national databases while on the go.

The first phase of the project, conducted in recent months, had about 22 WPS officers issued such phones.

Patrol Sgt. Ritchie Miller led the pilot under Insp. George Labossiere. He noted the program could also improve efficiency for Crown attorneys, who will have access to submitted evidence packages via the cloud — instead of flash drives and compact disks.

“Traditionally, officers who attend to scenes are bound to our paper notebooks and paper statements,” Miller said.

“If you’ve ever gone to court and seen the quality of our notes that are taken at the time and taken while we’re driving, in the weather, they often can be hard to read, hard to decipher, and that creates a problem that then we have to create narrative reports to help the Crown understand the information that’s in there.”

Miller said the ability to collect witness or victim statements via audio and video will make the evidence given to the Crown more robust.

“When I take your written statement, I get your words, I don’t get your emotions, your feelings. And often when that goes to court, that’s that missing piece… to hear the person tell their story. It really adds the human side to how greatly these people have been impacted.”

Police will also still collect information in the current manner, and radio communications will remain in place.

Labossiere said the project took security concerns into consideration, fitting the cellphones to national standards with a mobile device management system, virtual private networks and dual authentication.

The cash comes from the provincial civil forfeiture fund, as opposed to set police budgets. Goertzen said the justice department expects this to be an ongoing program and future funding is to be determined, based on the results.

WPS will get $375,000 for equipment for 150 more officers in the second phase, while the second $375,000 will be divided between the RCMP and rural agencies, including: Manitoba First Nations Police Service, Brandon, Winkler, Morden, Ste. Anne, Altona, Rivers, Victoria Beach, Cornwallis and Springfield.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

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