Worcester Councilors Approve $1,300 Police Stipends For Bodycams

WORCESTER, MA — The Worcester City Council took two affirmative votes Tuesday that will result in about 300 police officers receiving a pay boost for wearing body cameras — a program that kicked off at the end of February.

Police who wear bodycams will get $1,300 per year in perpetuity, plus a one-time $650 payment before the end of June. The police NEPBA Local 911 union negotiated the increase after arguing the bodycams created a change in working conditions.

City Manager Eric Batista confirmed the stipends would mean about $500,000 in new personnel costs each year. Batista also said the police union could ask to renegotiate the contract in the future, possibly changing bodycam stipends again.

Part of the bodycam stipend debate revolved around the city council's power over financial decisions in city hall.

City Solicitor Michael Traynor had advised councilors in a memo that they had already appropriated the money for stipends in the fiscal year 2023 budget, which councilors approved in June 2022. Traynor said the stipend deal was "legally complete" since the money was appropriated and the city manager had signed an agreement with the police union.

Why then, At-Large Councilor Thu Nguyen asked Traynor on Tuesday, did the council need to vote on the issue at all? Traynor said the council still had to approve the transfer of the actual money to the police department and amend the city's salary ordinance. If the council voted not to move the money, Traynor said he wasn't sure what would happen, legally.

Mayor Joseph Petty reminded that the city charter gives the city manager bargaining power, not councilors.

"We've empowered you to do this job, now it's our job to vote this," Petty said.

District 5 Councilor Etel Haxhiaj said the stipend appropriation recalled the 2022 debate over funding a police drone. In that instance, the council ultimately didn't have any control over approving drones because the council had already accepted a state earmark for the program.

"I cannot in good conscience reward something that should be done in the name of transparency and justice," she said of the stipends.

The stipend debate also bled into ongoing negotiations between the school committee and Education Association of Worcester teachers' union. The EAW's contract expired in August, and teachers have begun picketing over their lack of a contract — and may take a vote of no-confidence in the school committee.

At Tuesday's meeting, several councilors underscored the council does not directly negotiate union contracts, leaving it up to the city manager. The school committee, on the other hand, negotiates directly with the EAW.

Ahead of Tuesday's vote, District 1 Councilor Sean Rose said he rode along with a Worcester officer to see how the bodycam impacted their job. He saw the officer constantly worrying about battery life and taking time to upload camera data while other calls were coming in.

"I would encourage anybody who has that idea that well, you're just the same person anyway, you're just wearing a camera, I saw a real change in terms of the overall responsibilities of having it," he said.

The council was supposed to vote on the stipends at the April 25 meeting, but At-Large Councilor Kate Toomey held the item. She explained that the move was to allow for more discussion and clarity on the stipend issue.

"This isn't a reward for police officers, it's basically something that's negotiated and was appropriated," Toomey said.

Tuesday's vote may not be the end of the bodycam-stipend issue. A second police union that represents ranking officers had not as of this week completed negotiations over bodycams.

Both votes on stipends Tuesday came down 8 to 3 with councilors Khrystian King, Haxhiaj and Nguyen voting against both transferring the money for the stipends and amending the salary ordinance.