Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 4/25/2023
Hampden County Sheriff’s Department deputies will soon be equipped with body-worn cameras.
Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi told members of the press of his plans for the installation of body cameras for his law enforcement personnel when operating outside of the department’s correctional facilities during an April 20 press conference at Forest Park in Springfield.
Cocchi said, “At the Sheriff’s Office as well, any of our [deputies] outside facility walls, we have an agreement with our union as well for body worn cameras.”
Cocchi’s officers are regularly present in the community. The April 20 press conference highlighted one of the Sheriff’s Department’s most visible initiatives outside the walls of Hampden County corrections facilities as Cocchi and his department joined Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, Police Superintendent Cheryl Clapprood, Executive Director of Parks, Buildings and Recreation Management Patrick Sullivan to discuss the continuation of the partnership through which deputy sheriffs patrol Forest Park.
The city of Springfield began implementing body cameras in 2020 and now, by policy, all Springfield police officers are required to wear and operate body-worn cameras. Additionally, Massachusetts State Police troopers are equipped with body cameras as of December 2021. Cocchi said Springfield’s experience with body cameras and conversations with Clapprood strengthened his confidence in implementing such a program.
Cocchi added, “It is probably the best thing we can to protect our officers and our deputies. It tells the true story.”
Cocchi said that the Sheriff’s Department has the cameras and system ready, along with a written policy and protocol.
While law enforcement has regularly touted the effectiveness of body cameras in protecting the interests of citizens and law enforcement personnel, research into the matter relays mixed results. The National Institute of Justice, an agency of the U.S, Department of Justice, reports that while existing studies and data have yielded promising results, they are are overall inconclusive and the matter requires more rigorous investigation.
Earlier this month, body cam footage was cited as a tool in Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni’s determination that a February fatal officer-involved shooting was justified and Massachusetts State Troopers used “reasonable and necessary use of lethal force.”
According to a January 2022 State House News Service report, only 10% of all municipal police departments had an operational body camera program. With that said, a survey conducted by the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association found that 75% of departments in both major cities and smaller towns were interested in using them.
Evidence suggests use of these systems is on the rise. Gulluni asked state legislators on April 4 to support funding that would upgrade the connection speeds for district attorney’s offices due to the high volume of body camera footage submitted as evidence, which has caused lag and unresponsive systems, according to the news service.
Although Cocchi announced the plan was to roll out the body cameras “next month,” Hampden County Sheriff’s Department Senior Public Information Officer Rob Rizzuto told Reminder Publishing the department has not determined a date upon which the program would be implemented.
While the department does possess the technology, he said, it is still putting the finishing touches on the program, including the proper training to ensure the cameras work as intended.
“I can say we hope to have them deployed in the coming months, but as of today there is not a specific date,” Rizzuto added.