Boston Police Roll Out Body Cameras

BOSTON — Nearly 200 Boston police officers on Monday are wearing body cameras around the city. The first to wear the cameras are officers in South Boston, Dorchester and officers on the Youth Violence Strike Force, the department announced.

Mayor Marty Walsh released the final report on Boston's body camera test program that showed benefits last year and announced plans to expand it gradually.

"This new technology is an opportunity to showcase and enhance the department’s commitment to transparency while further strengthening the level of trust that exists between the men and women of the Boston Police Department and our community," Boston police said in a statement.

The idea is that cameras will be turned on for vehicle stops, investigative stops, reasonable suspicion stops, dispatched calls for service involving contact with civilians, initial responses, detentions, transport of prisoners, pat frisks, car chases, when an officer believes a crowd control incident may result in unlawful activity and any contact that becomes adversarial, according to the department.

Still, officers will be given discretion to turn their camera on — or off — during any citizen contact or official duty circumstance.

Who won't be wearing a camera yet? Supervisors and detectives and anyone not in South Boston, Dorchester or on the Youth Strike Force. Also, officers and detectives working overtime or on a paid detail won't be wearing them either.

The camera program is expected to cost $8.5 million for the first three years, with annual recurring costs after 2021 estimated at $3.3 million. However final costs will be dependent on several factors and are subject to change, officials said.

Some 100 officers participated in a year-long body cam test program that finished in 2017. As part of the program, officers outfitted with body cameras generated roughly 38,200 videos that covered more than 4,600 hours of police work in Boston neighborhoods.

Following that pilot program, the group Boston Police Camera Action Team petitioned the department to take the leap and roll out body cameras for everyone.

Shekia Scott who is co-founder of the Boston Police Camera Action Team, a group that has advocated for the cameras, said they're happy that the cameras are finally implemented with full support from the mayor and commissioner, and that more than half of the policy outlining the use of the cameras is adopted from BPCAT’s proposed policy

Click here to view Boston Police Department Rule 405 - Body Worn Camera Policy.

"However, we are concerned the policy doesn’t cover a lot of the main concerns," said Scott. "Officers do not require consent to record, especially in a person's home or other very personal situations. Officers are able to review footage prior to writing a report which can lead to officers using the footage to change what they initially interpreted, leaving less room to properly assess why officers may interpret a situation differently than what actually happened lessening the chance to help officers as well."

The policy also does not outline what is considered a violation of the policy, or dictate disciplinary actions if officers violate the policy. This can ultimately render the camera useless, said Scott, who added the policy was crafted without community input.

RELATED:

Body Cams For Boston Police Are Here To Stay: Mayor Walsh

State Police Start Body Cam Test

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).