WARWICK — Thanks to a grant from the Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association (MIIA), Warwick’s police officers will see a new addition to their uniforms: body-worn cameras.
According to Town Coordinator David Young, after applying for a grant through MIIA in November, the Warwick Police Department was given a grant for $8,460. The grant supported the purchase of four body-worn cameras and one dash camera for a police cruiser.
Warwick Police Chief David Shoemaker believes the addition of body-worn cameras, which will be used starting April 1, will benefit the department and the community.
“It’s just a way to be able to verify what may or may not have happened, and that can help build trust,” Shoemaker said. “If you know what’s going on is going to be available to view at a later time, you might have more of an expectation that the outcome is going to be fair and balanced.”
“It simultaneously protects the public, protects the officer and protects the town,” Young said. “Globally, in general, body cameras are a good way to ensure responsible behavior, because someone is watching.”
Plus, Shoemaker said reviewing footage from the body-worn cameras will help officers when writing reports.
“It’s very helpful to the officers where they’re reporting on an incident they’ve been in,” he said. “It will help them recollect what actually happened and help eliminate the ‘He said, she said’ interaction that might occur with the public.”
Shoemaker said the department, which includes five patrol officers, has hoped to acquire body-worn cameras for a long time, but couldn’t afford them without the grant.
“It’s been on the back-burner because of the cost,” he said. “There was just no way we could swing it on our own.”
The body-worn cameras cost $895 each, and purchasing the additional dash camera to outfit the department’s second cruiser cost $4,795.
Young said the equipment will also help mitigate the town’s risk of lawsuits, benefiting the town and MIIA, the town’s insurance company.
“Claims against law enforcement are a fair piece of a municipality’s liability exposure,” he said.
Before using the body-worn cameras, Shoemaker had to develop policies and procedures for their use. The 9-page document was approved by the Selectboard during its Feb. 13 meeting, and is based on policies from the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, Shoemaker said.
The cameras, the policy states, will be used to record “public interactions, motor vehicle stops, pursuits and police responses involving criminal and civil violations of the law, as well as when an officer believes, in his/her best judgment any situation, condition or event that has the potential for loss of life, injury or damage to property or chance of citizen complaint.”
Prior to each shift, officers will remove the cameras from their charging docks and allow them to run a self-test, ensuring they’re functioning properly before mounting them on their uniforms.
“It’s noticeable to people. You can see that (police) are wearing them,” Shoemaker said.
The policy dictates that, whenever possible, officers should inform individuals that they are being recorded.
“In locations where individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as a residence, they may decline to be recorded unless the recording is being made pursuant to an arrest or search of the residence or individuals,” the policy states.
An officer can stop a recording to conserve recording times during long incidents and if the officer believes the deactivation won’t result in the loss of critical information. However, the officer must report his or her intention to stop the recording either verbally or in a written note, the policy states.
Shoemaker’s role as body-worn camera supervisor will involve storing the footage, likely on terabyte hard drives. According to the department’s policy, media not considered to be criminal evidence will be stored for at least three years, and traffic stop media will be stored for one year.
Also, should an officer be injured or killed on the job, the video evidence can help lead investigators to the culprits, the policy states.
“People tend to say ‘Stuff like that doesn’t happen here’ or ‘We don’t run into problems like that here,’” Shoemaker said. “But we’re all part of the human race.”
You can reach Shelby Ashline at: sashline@recorder.com
413-772-0261 ext. 257.