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Date: 1/18/2022
EASTHAMPTON – Easthampton is one of several Western Massachusetts communities to have received state funding for a body camera program for its Police Department.
The Easthampton Police Department received $40,000 from a more than $4 million funding pool through the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. Sixty-four communities received grants, with the other local police departments being those in Wilbraham, Hatfield, Greenfield, Southwick, Sheffield, and Great Barrington in Western Massachusetts.
Detective Andrew Beaulieu of the Easthampton Police Department told Reminder Publishing, “This grant will be used to supplement the creation of our body camera program. We do not currently have one.”
When the department will have the cameras in place is not known at this time. Beaulieu added, “The grant money has not even been released yet. Then the program will have to go out to bid by different companies that sell these systems. After that, the city and police union will have to agree to policies governing their use. Hardware and software will have to be installed for storage of footage/data. And once all of that is complete, the program will be able to go live.”
Public Safety and Security Secretary Terrence Reidy said in a written statement, “Body-worn camera programs also provide law enforcement agencies with an important tool to improve training and advance best practices. This grant program and the resulting implementation of advanced technology will improve safety for police and communities across the Commonwealth,”
According to information supplied by the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, “Currently, 10 percent of Massachusetts municipal departments operate a body-worn camera program. However, a poll conducted by the Massachusetts Chief of Police Association indicated that 75 percent of departments in both major cities and smaller communities are interested in starting a program.”
Gov. Charlie Baker said, “We are glad to provide communities with these resources for body-worn camera programs, because they improve public safety, strengthen community-police relations, and enhance the values of transparency and accountability. This technology offers municipalities a valuable tool in support of municipal police in their efforts to ensure public safety and transparency in their communities.”