New technology to help Winnipeg police search through hours of video

A new investment from the Manitoba government will equip the Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) with technology that allows them review hours of video in minutes.

On Tuesday, Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen announced that the province is providing more than $1 million to Winnipeg police to purchase new equipment, training and technology.

The money, which comes from the Criminal Property Forfeiture Fund, will help police acquire new technology that allows officers to sift through hours of video evidence in minutes. Using metadata, police will be able to quickly search for figures and events of interest, including people, cars, and lighting changes.

This new equipment will help police identify offenders in a number of investigations.

“We all know that in the world that we live in there are thousands of cameras, some are private businesses, some that are publicly maintained…that can be very helpful when it comes to evidence collection and moving to proceeding on a case, but it’s a tremendous amount of data and it’s very, very time consuming,” Goertzen said.

The provincial funding will also go towards providing trauma training for WPS members.

According to the province, $76,000 will be allocated to a two-day training session for 200 police staff members, with a focus on the role of police leaders in recognizing the impact of stressors in policing.

Goertzen said this training will give officers a better understanding of how to help people dealing with trauma, but will also provide support to officers who are experiencing trauma.

“We know that what officers are dealing with and what they see almost on a daily basis has an impact on them and has an impact on their families when they go home,” he said.

“It’s important that we invest in opportunities to help them in dealing with that trauma.”

The Criminal Property Forfeiture Fund liquidates criminal assets and redirects the money to projects that help protect Manitobans.