The Ontario government is expanding the use of a digital platform that allows police officers to file criminal charges electronically.
The new technology will be available by the end of January in courthouses in Dryden, Sioux Lookout, Kenora, Fort Frances, and Thunder Bay.
It also allows Justices of the Peace to enter their decisions and sign documents electronically as well as request additional information from police online.
Solicitor General Sylvia Jones says they are modernizing Ontario’s criminal justice system so information flows seamlessly from police to the courts.
Jones says this will allow police to spend more time preventing and investigating crime.
Attorney General Doug Downey says the digital platform will enable police to spend more time on the frontline and less time travelling long distances to courthouses.
The platform is expected to be rolled across Ontario by 2022.
The province is also investing in new technology that will enhance the ability for police services to securely capture, store, manage and share digital evidence.
The Digital Evidence Management program will ensure timely access to evidence, reduce delays and enable police to spend more time investigating crimes and keeping their communities safe.
It will provide police services with access to cloud-based technology to allow evidence, once physically handled, to be shared securely amongst justice sector partners and it will:
-Provide capacity to capture, store, manage and share large audio and video files, including those recorded and shared through by-stander cell phones, 9-1-1 audio, interview room cameras, dash cams and body-worn cameras, as well as photographs
-Enable police services to securely share digital evidence with Crown attorneys and other police services, eliminating the need to transport multimedia files on USBs and DVDs
-Allow a police service to request help from the public, enabling the public to upload evidence directly to the system in relation to an investigation while remaining anonymous.
