Worcester Releases First Police Bodycam Video As Program Begins

WORCESTER, MA — Worcester has released one of the first videos recorded under the police department's new body camera program launched late last month, but did withhold some information under the state's public records law.

Officials including City Manager Eric Batista and Chief Steven Sargent have said the bodycam program will be a major step toward transparency for local police, and a key test of that will be how the city responds to public records requests for video footage. The city does not routinely make the bodycam videos available to the public outside of public records requests.

Worcester officers began wearing bodycams on Feb. 27. That day, Worcester Patch requested the first video ever captured. After 10 business days — typically the maximum allowed under the public records law — the city responded on Monday by releasing the second video ever captured.

The first video needed to be withheld, the city said, because it involved a missing person under age 18.

"The recording contains intimate details of a highly personal nature, the disclosure of which would be embarrassing to an individual of normal sensibilities, and the information is not readily available from other sources. In this instance there is no legitimate public interest in disclosure, and because there are also significant privacy interests of civilians (including a juvenile) the privacy interests prevail," the city said in its response.

The second video captured under the program also involved a juvenile, but officials used video editing software to redact that person's face — as well as other private information, like driver licenses.

The video released Monday captures a relatively routine traffic accident. The video depicts an officer driving up to the scene of the collision. The officer speaks to the three drivers involved — including a person under 18 — and notes that he's going to turn the camera off when he does. The two videos released by the city total about five minutes.

As can be seen in the footage, the city used blurred squares to cover the face of the juvenile and paperwork related to the crash.

Worcester purchased 300 body cameras and Taser weapons from Seattle-based Axon in a package that cost of close to $4 million. The city is also planning to hire three new public records officers just to work on redacting bodycam videos. Those positions have been advertised with salaries ranging from $63,657 to $83,402, according to postings. The city has estimated it needs one public records employee for every 75 bodycams.

The officers who wear the cameras may also receive compensation. The patrol officers' NEPBA Local 911 and the ranking officers' IBPO Local 504 unions have been negotiating over contract changes — including a possible bodycam stipend — in recent weeks, but had not reached an agreement as of Feb. 27.

Worcester police conducted a bodycam pilot program in 2019 where about 20 officers wore the devices. During the pilot, police recorded over 1,100 hours of footage.

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