Brookline Edges Forward On Implementing Police Body And Dash Cams

BROOKLINE, MA — Amid a country-wide push for police department reform and calls for Brookline police to use body cameras, the police union and the town have cleared a major hurdle to make it happen: contract negotiation.

Select Board chair Bernard Greene said the board had approved a memorandum of agreement with the Brookline police union that would grant the decision for police to be required to wear body cams or deploy dash board cameras and GPS system to the town.

"It means we'll be able to implement the body cams and dashboard cameras and GPS, but we'll still have to negotiate policies and terms and conditions around that," Greene told Patch. "The union has waived its right to require the town to bargain over the decision to employ this new technology."

For years, officers and officials within the Brookline Police Department have said they would be open to wearing body cameras, pointing to success in neighboring Boston and other police communities. The department has met with various vendors throughout the past few years, according to Lt. Jen Paster, a police spokesperson. Discussions have included the question of how long the department should keep recordings.

"Internally, the dialogue has been quite positive about this issue. This is something we want," she said. "We want to obviously balance our desire to be completely transparent with concern that our neighbors might have over privacy."

But a major roadblock, according to town officials, has been the police union contract.

Greene said committee he chairs on policing reform will be discussing recommendations.

And Town Meeting member Donelle O'Neal has proposed bringing the issue to the Nov. 17 Town Meeting with his resolution that asks the town to work with the Brookline Police Department to adopt a policy pertaining to the use of both body cameras and dash cameras and set aside money for just that in the Fiscal Year 2022 budget.

O'Neal, who also sits on the advisory committee, points to Boston's pilot program as something that has paved the way for Brookline to consider.

"I just feel that body cam and the dash cam videos are just going to be another tool that we have," said O'Neal. "It will help ease some of the tension that’s going on. And it will make people like me feel a lot more comfortable when we get pulled over for a traffic stop or something that it’s being recorded."

The ACLU of Massachusetts asked 40 large police departments around the state to consider adopting body cams in 2016 "because of a history of abuses experienced by historically vulnerable and disenfranchised" people in those communities.

Still, across Massachusetts, their use is still scarce. Less than a dozen department across the commonwealth use them. Police officials say departments have been hesitant to adopt them because of a host of issues, ranging from collective bargaining agreements to concerns about the state's public records law to their cost— both of equipment and storing the video. Boston spent about $2 million to buy 400 body cams alone.

In addition to Boston, about seven communities use them now, including West Brookfield, Lakeville, Methuen, Sherborn, Ipswich and Springfield.

Read more:

• Few Police Wear Body Cams In MA; Cost, Privacy Are ...
• Practical Barriers Block Police Body Cam Use In Salem

Got a tip? Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna). Have a press release you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how to post a press release, a column, event or opinion piece.