The Altona Police Service (APS) will be outfitting two more vehicles with in-car camera systems thanks to a Criminal Property Forfeiture grant.
Manitoba's Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen made the announcement Wednesday in Altona.
"It's a really important fund and I think it's also one that people generally like because it's funded not by taxpayers, it's funded by criminals who are out there doing criminal activities and then when they get caught, whatever is seized, sometimes it's vehicles, sometimes it's cash, sometimes it's homes, it gets monetized and put into this fund and then it gets distributed to police around the province to help them catch more people who are doing activities that are illegal," he said. "I think that not only do the police like it because it provides them an opportunity to get funding for certain things but I think the public likes it because it is funded not by taxpayers but by criminals."
The cost to equip the two additional vehicles is just over $5,000
Acting Chief of Police Dan Defer said the Altona Police Service had previously equipped one vehicle with a camera system.
"The footage is used for a variety of different things," he explained. "Obviously evidence collection. Also in today's age of accountability, it's also documenting the entire vehicle stop, the interaction from start to finish."
Defer says the APS has had variations of in-car camera systems for the past 15 years but notes the technology being used today is far superior to previous systems.