Edmonton police working with tech company to employ autistic workers' skills to review bodycam footage
- lison435
- Jul 18, 2024
- 1 min read
As a kid, Matthew Lambregts always wanted to be a police officer.
Now an adult, a new opportunity uniquely suited to the skills of autistic people — poring through hours of police body camera footage — has rekindled Lambregts's dream.
"This is not what I had in mind when I wanted to work for the police. But I like it," said Lambregts at a news conference Tuesday announcing the new partnership between the Edmonton Police Service and Technology North, an Edmonton-based IT company that specializes in employing autistic people.
"It's very hard for someone on the spectrum to articulate, explain themselves, or just be themselves," Lambregts said. "Previous jobs I wouldn't even mention it. Now it's at the forefront.
"It's good to make a difference, it's good to be a part of something bigger."
The province announced last year that body cameras would be mandatory for police officers.
Edmonton police has received more than 100 bodycams to date, and expects to have 280 deployed body-worn cameras by the end of the year, said Supt. Derek McIntyre, with the EPS information and analytics division.
Comments