TSTT partners with TT Police Service in ground-breaking body worn camera project

While there have been numerous studies done worldwide on body-worn cameras used by select police departments, none were commissioned across an entire country, making TT the first national-level study. Williams stated that 60 body-worn cameras, donated by TSTT, will be fully implemented into the police service effective August 1, and will be distributed among the nine divisions of the TTPS to support the national-level study. The six-month pilot will be done in conjunction with a hotspot policing experiment to provide the synergies needed to help improve the work of the police service.

Dr Ronald Walcott, TSTT’s chief executive officer shared that TSTT has partnered with the Ministry of National Security for quite some time and provided several enterprise solutions, including over 1,600 CCTV cameras with the command centres, transport and access system to support them throughout TT.

“We are extremely pleased to be a part of this pilot programme as it is a natural expansion of the CCTV initiative and a step in the right direction.” He continued, “Our commitment is to assist in the fight against crime in Trinidad and Tobago, so we have provided the 60 body-worn cameras, along with the technology to support them, free of charge to the TTPS. This ground-breaking initiative will complement the tactics and methods currently employed by the police officers in the execution of their duties, aid in its modernisation, facilitate greater accountability and transparency in the reporting of incidents as they occur, enhance the relationship that the police officers have with the public and aid in building the confidence that is needed to effect good policing.”

Dr Walcott said the TSTT team ensured that the best technology available globally was brought to help with the fight against crime. He discussed the camera’s features which include a 210-degree angle; low light operation; five integrated microphones; pre-buffering so it’s always ready to record; ten-hour battery life; tempered glass display with an intuitive user interface; and water proofing for submersion up to 30 minutes. Dr. Walcott noted that the footage is encrypted so it cannot be modified by the police officers wearing the cameras. Once the encrypted footage is captured, it is transmitted to the command centre which is a highly secure, cloud-based solution with several layers of security and restricted access.

“We ensured that the solution was robust, reliable, versatile, secure and designed in such a way that it does not hinder the officer. We also explored studies that were done around the world so we could do some comparisons. One of these, a 2015 University of South Florida survey showed the use of body-worn cameras attained a 53 per cent decrease in response to resistance complaints; a 65 per cent decrease in civilian complaints; and injuries to civilians and police officers also showed a significant reduction. Other global studies showed similar benefits from police officers wearing body cameras,” Dr Walcott said.

Williams thanked TSTT for its support and shared that enthusiasm was high within the TTPS as the officers are aware of the many benefits to be gained from body worn cameras. “In fact, one of the strongest advocates is the president of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service Social and Welfare Association, Inspector Michael Seales, who recognised that officers are disadvantaged when people use mobile phone cameras to capture parts of incidents, as this may not truly represent the whole event involving police and civilians.”

Williams said that the pilot programme will be used to assess the impact of body worn cameras on many aspects of policing and police-citizen interactions, including the extent and nature of compliance with the use of body worn cameras; the quality of hotspot patrols; the use of force by police officers while out on duty; firearm discharges by police officers; injuries sustained by police officers and civilians during police-civilian interactions; and complaints against police officers.