BOSTON, MA – The Baker-Polito Administration recently announced the funding awards for a competitive grant program to equip municipal police departments across the Commonwealth with body-worn cameras. The Office of Grants and Research (OGR) within the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security will manage the five-year program, which is expected to fund 9,000 cameras as well as on-premises servers for secure video storage for municipal police departments.
This year, OGR is funding 64 municipal police departments totaling $4,072,412.73. These 64 departments will purchase a total of 2,859 BWCs; equipping approximately 3,634 law enforcement officials statewide. The Duxbury Police Department was selected as an awardee and will be given $55,755 to support their local program.
“A robust Body-Worn Camera program will ensure that both officers and the public are held accountable during interactions,” said State Senator Patrick O’Connor (R-Weymouth). “Body-worn cameras have the opportunity to strengthen the relationship between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve, and I believe Duxbury is ready to take this next step.”
While only 10% of Massachusetts municipal departments operate a body-worn camera program, a recent poll by the Massachusetts Chief of Police Association indicates that more than 3 of 4 departments in both major cities and smaller communities are interested in starting a program.
As part of the grant application, each police department was required to submit a comprehensive deployment plan that must describe a deliberate and phased plan to deploy the technology, as well as specific ways the proposed program will enhance the agency’s mission.