FRAMINGHAM — The Police Department plans to start a pilot program in which it will use body-worn cameras for the first time.
Police Chief Lester Baker said Framingham recently received a $211,000 grant from the state Law Enforcement Body-Worn Camera Program. The money will allow the Police Department to buy equipment and will assist in the hiring of an IT person for the program.
“Policing has changed,” said Baker. “This is new technology. It’s a tool to help the department.”
Several other local police departments, including Southborough, Westborough, Sherborn and Upton, already use bodycams. While the equipment became more popular nationally after several high-profile incidents of police brutality, local police point out that the bodycams also protect them from false accusations and provide evidence that can be used in court to back up officers’ testimony.
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Body-worn cameras, or “body cams” as they’re commonly known, are small cameras that are designed for police officers to wear on their uniforms. They record the action as police interact with others during calls.
Framingham must take several steps to implement program
Framingham police plan to buy Axon-brand body cameras, but Baker said getting the cameras and having them worn by officers is not a simple process.
The department will have to get the infrastructure in place — increased Wi-Fi capabilities, as well as data storage capacity. In addition, for the pilot program, Framingham needs to hire at least one civilian technology employee to oversee the equipment.
In addition, the department has to negotiate through collective bargaining with the two unions — the Framingham Police Officers Union and the Framingham Superior Officers Association — to implement use of the gear.
“You don’t roll them out all at once,” said Baker. “Once we get the talks with the union completed and all of the equipment in place and the personnel in place, we can start the pilot program.”
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Sgt. Brian Curtis, head of the Framingham Superior Officers Association, said he could not comment due to the association being in the midst of negotiations.
Officer Jeffrey DeRosa, head of the Framingham Police Officers Union, could not be reached. The union’s previous leader, Ryan Porter, said in February 2022 that the union viewed the idea of body cams favorably, but thgeir usage would have to go through negotiations.
“The view of body cameras as a pretty fantastic tool for accountability (works) on both sides of the coin,” said Porter, who was promoted to sergeant earlier this year. “Law enforcement, police officers as a whole, have been resistant to change, particularly when it came to technology. When computers first came out, they didn’t want to use them for police work, and now it’s an integral part of the job. We have a young department, and our generation is much more comfortable with technology.”
Baker said there are issues that must be worked out, such as things that would have to be redacted from body cam footage; storage of the footage and at what point can it be deleted; and how to transfer it to others as part of the discovery process during the prosecution of the case.
Once body cams are rolled out for the whole department, several new employees will be added for maintenance and technological aspects of the equipment, the chief said. He said studies suggest a department Framingham’s size will need three or four IT personnel.
“We have to do our due diligence,” Baker said.
Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date public safety news, follow him on X @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerCrime.