EASTON — Chief Gary Sullivan is pleased to announce that the Easton Police Department has been awarded $48,767 in state grant funds allocated by the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security’s Office of Grants and Research (OGR) Body-Worn Camera (BWC) grant program.
With the use of the grant funding, the Easton Police Department will be able to equip every officer in the department with a body-worn camera.
“Our department is grateful to receive funding support to implement this 21st century technology, helping us to maintain and strengthen transparency, accountability and community trust,” Chief Sullivan said.
The Body-Worn Camera (BWC) Grant Program will equip municipal police departments across the Commonwealth with body-worn cameras. Approximately $20 million in funding will be used to purchase 9,000 cameras during the next five years.
The Baker-Polito Administration included funding for this program as part of its FY22 Capital Budget Plan. The grant application process requires each municipal department to submit a comprehensive deployment plan that describes a deliberate and phased plan to deploy the technology, as well as specific ways the proposed program will enhance the agency’s mission.
President Barack Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing placed a priority on body camera research and camera programs. The Task Force’s final report indicated that officers wearing body cameras had “87.5 percent fewer incidents of use of force and 59 percent fewer complaints than the officers not wearing the cameras.”
According to a recent poll by the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, only 10% of Massachusetts municipal departments operate a body-worn camera program. However, the same poll indicated that 75% of departments in major cities and smaller communities are interested in starting a program.
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