December 13, 2022 By Carol Britton Meyer
Thanks to a $137,000 grant under the state Body-Worn Camera Grant Program, all Hingham Police Department uniformed sworn personnel will be equipped with body-worn cameras.
These cameras will allow HPD "to continue to strengthen our community’s trust in our agency, aid in de-escalation, help resolve citizen complaints, and provide evidence in criminal cases and an accurate documentation of officer’s interactions with members of the public, victims, and suspects," Hingham Police Chief David Jones told the Hingham Anchor.
The more than $2.5 million in grant funding allocated to 32 municipal police departments across Massachusetts is geared toward increasing the number of law enforcement officers outfitted with body-worn cameras or expanding existing BWC programs.
"Our officers are excited to get this new technology for our agency. Having body-worn cameras will foster transparency and help to maintain the high level of confidence we enjoy with our community," Jones further explained. "We have had two evaluation body-worn cameras for several months, and through the generous grant funding provided by the Baker-Polito administration, we have been able to secure funding for body-worn cameras for all of our uniformed sworn personnel."
These cameras will integrate with the HPD's existing in-car video systems, allowing recorded events on both the body-worn cameras and on the in-car video to be linked and accessible on one platform.
As background, in 2021, the Baker-Polito Administration awarded $4 million to help implement or expand local police department’s body-worn camera programs as part of a 5-year, $20 million investment in the technology across the state.
This year’s BWC grants will allow 27 departments -- including Hingham's -- to introduce new body-worn camera programs in 2023 and for five police departments to expand existing programs.
"We have begun rolling out the newly-acquired cameras, and within a few months all of our officers should be issued a camera," Jones said. "The equipment itself is expensive, but the larger piece we will be dealing with is data storage. The cruisers have three high-definition cameras, while the body-worn equipment has a single high-definition camera. With all of them recording on each police response, a tremendous amount of storage will be required."
In a statement, Gov. Charlie Baker called body-worn cameras "an important tool to enhance accountability, improve investigations, and strengthen relationships between police and the communities they serve. The investment we’re making in these programs today will help create safer communities for years to come.”