PrismaVision was founded in 1994 when a young rookie police officer compiled the first edition of The Notebook Companion out of necessity. He was assigned to “walking the beat” and had to carry numerous notes and wordings on various clippings tucked into his notebook cover. This was years before smart phones, so the material had to be either carried or the dispatchers would have to dictate the appropriate wordings over the radio.
The Notebook Companion was born. At first, the small sixteen page booklet was shared among platoon members, and then the demand for it grew quickly to the entire patrol division. The decision was made to expand the booklet and to include many more topics so that everything needed to carry out independent policing was available in a handy, compact and easy to use format.
The first edition of The Notebook Companion went on sale at the Ontario Police College in 1995, and its popularity grew quickly. Over the years, the book grew in size and was improved in quality and content. Police officers and their services from across Ontario soon became enthusiastic customers. The interest grew to include the Military Police, instructors in Police Foundations courses at various colleges, First Nations police services, crown attorney offices, railway police agencies, private security and para-legal companies.
Variants of The Notebook Companion were introduced to meet the demands of police officers, including The Outdoor Notebook Companion, The Cruiser Companion and the Rugged versions of the book. Customized editions were added to the booklist when police services requested their own versions to be printed.
Whereas The Notebook Companion is designed and intended for use by police officers in Ontario, it is also used by conservation and transportation officers, by-law enforcement, para-legal and crown attorney offices, as well at students across Ontario in Police Foundations courses. All of PrismaVision’s publications are available to the general public who may have a curiosity about the laws and police matters.