Last week, the Bristol Police Department learned that they would be receiving $341,250 in state and federal grant money to outfit 39 Bristol Police officers with body cameras.
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Last week, the Bristol Police Department learned that they would be receiving $341,250 in state and federal grant money to outfit 39 Bristol Police officers with body cameras. This will equip all sergeants and patrol officers with a camera, with additional available for detectives in the event they have to execute a search warrant.
“The Attorney General’s office spearheaded this effort; the state got a lump sum from the federal government and dispersed it among the cities and towns,” said Major Brian Burke of the BPD. Statewide, the total grant amount was $16 million, which will fund 1,773 body cameras in 42 communities.
The Attorney General’s effort was joined by the Rhode Island Department of Public Safety, the Rhode Island Police Chiefs’ Association, Rhode Island’s Congressional Delegation, and state legislative leaders.
“Today is a good day for all Rhode Islanders, as we equip front-line police officers across the state with a helpful tool that will benefit them and the public by assisting critical fact finding and building community trust,” said Attorney General Neronha. “With today’s funding announcement, we have removed a substantial monetary barrier for many municipalities that continuously juggle critical priorities.”
“Outfitting our Troopers and members of law enforcement with body-worn cameras is a key milestone as we work to address the issues that are challenges in policing today,” said Colonel Darnell S. Weaver, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police and Director of the Department of Public Safety. “I expect that cameras will foster greater trust between citizens and their police departments, helping to lower complaints and improve relationships.”
BPD did its research in the spring
In June 2021, when Governor Dan McKee signed legislation to equip every frontline police officer with body-worn cameras, the plan was for the state to promulgate the rules governing the policy and help secure funding, but it was left to each department to determine what their needs would be and which company’s product they wanted to use. In Bristol, that task fell to Burke who, along with Sgt. Brian Morse, coordinated a month-long demo program for the department back in May of this year.
While body cameras are in routine use in larger police departments nationwide, and already in use in Providence and Newport here in Rhode Island, what application might they have in Bristol — named the safest town in Rhode Island just last year — with a police department that has been honored for its extensive community policing efforts and is viewed favorably by an overwhelming majority of citizens?
“The goal is to have accountability,” said Chief Lynch, at the start of the pilot program. “People have to trust in the work that the police officers do. I think people are going to be surprised when they see what interactions police officers encounter…the difficult situations that they walk into. It's a difficult and challenging job in the 21st century.”
The Statewide Body-Worn Camera law, adopted by the AG’s office, governs the policy that all funds-receiving police departments must follow with regard to all aspects of usage, including activation and deactivation, retention of footage, and prohibited actions. It’s a comprehensive law designed to protect constitutional rights, document critical interactions between law enforcement and members of the public, promote transparency, and build public trust in government.
“We can add to that policy here in Bristol, but we can’t take away from the foundation established by the state,” said Burke.
The cameras themselves work just like a GoPro, clipping or magnetizing to an officer’s uniform. They are always on in a reboot mode, passively recording 30 seconds of soundless footage, a buffer that is added to the beginning of the footage when the camera is turned on, so if an incident begins suddenly an officer can capture those first moments.
Burke and Morse selected Axon products, for their functionality and range of options that they could add on, budget-willing. The cameras work with apps on officers’ phones and could even allow remote observation by leadership. Highly encrypted, even if a camera were to fall into the wrong hands, it wouldn’t yield information to anyone outside the department.
Axon’s suite of products also includes a drone that could be deployed in a security situation, search and rescue, or other emergency. The operation requires an FAA license, something for which seven officers on the force are currently training.
Body-worn cameras are the final box that the Bristol PD needs to check off on the Twenty for 2020 Pledge: Twenty Promises to all Rhode Islanders from their Police Departments — a list of principals, promises, and policy amendments devised in the wake of the George Floyd murder.
“The only one that we were shy on was body-worn cameras,” said Lynch. “And now I'm very pleased to say that we have checked off every one of those every one of those boxes. We've updated all of our policies and our procedures.”