Officers with the Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) are going digital.
In a move that appears to be ahead of the curve, the HRPS is going to have its officers transition from traditional paper-based notes to electronic notes. In a release, the HRPS notes how it will be the first police agency in Ontario, and only the second in Canada, to make the transition.
“Note-taking in the policing sector has not evolved in over 100 years, and we are proud to be adopting technology that the newest generation of officers expect and want,” says Deputy Chief Roger Wilkie. “This is just one of the latest ways the HRPS is striving to optimize effectiveness and efficiency by purposefully harnessing innovative technology.”
As of late-August, roughly one-third of HRPS sworn members already received extensive training and successfully transitioned to eNotes using the Smart Squad application by Faction Four Systems Inc on Service-issued cellphones. All sworn members will be fully trained by early 2022.
The HRPS eNotes application is customized and optimized to contain features that the HRPS says it recognizes as key to policing operations.
“Officers are now more mobile, no longer constrained by limitations of paper notes or tied to the computer in their cruisers,” the release says. “Officers can now access and add to police databases and record systems from anywhere. Further, eNotes equips officers with a secure means to obtain audio statements and take supplementary photos or recordings. All of these new functions are bolstered by heightened transparency and credibility to officer notes, with time-stamped entries and increased legibility.”
