Woodbridge Police Getting Body Cameras

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — The Woodbridge Police Department will be getting body cameras this summer, as per a new requirement by Gov. Phil Murphy that every police department in the state have the cameras by June 1.

Woodbridge Twp. applied for — and received — a $611,000 grant from the state of New Jersey, which will go to fund the purchase of 300 body-worn cameras.

Woodbridge Police did not have body cameras until the governor mandated it.

The police department has not yet received the cameras and their purchase is still being finalized, said Woodbridge Police Director Robert Hubner.

But all uniformed Woodbridge police officers will start wearing the cameras as soon as they arrive, he said.

The $611,000 state grant paid for the initial purchase of the cameras, but all future costs for the body cameras will likely be borne by Woodbridge taxpayers.

"If there are no further grant opportunities, the cost will be the Township's responsibility," said Director Hubner.

In November, Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation that required every uniformed patrol officer in New Jersey to be outfitted with a body camera while on duty by June 1, 2021.

New Jersey State Troopers have had car-mounted cameras for more than two decades and have been wearing body cameras for the past several months "with great success," Colonel Patrick Callahan, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, said this week.

Statewide, 28,214 cameras will be purchased at a total cost of $57.5 million. The Attorney General's Office is administering the grant program on a reimbursement basis, with agencies receiving funding at $2,038 per camera, which may be used for the purchase of cameras and equipment needed to operate them, and towards the costs of storing footage from the cameras.

• Edison Division of Police: Getting 182 cameras with a $370,910 grant
• New Brunswick PD: Getting 172 cameras with a $350,536 grant
• Rutgers University: Getting 184 cameras with a $374,992 grant

• Middlesex Borough: Getting 34 cameras with a $69,292 grant
• Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office: Getting 75 cameras with a $152,850 grant
• Middlesex County Sheriff's Office: Getting 100 cameras with a $203,800 grant

Some studies show that use of force and complaints against officers go down when police are wearing body cameras: This study conducted by the University of Cambridge in 2012 showed that the use of force by police officers wearing cameras fell by 59 percent from the previous year. Complaints against officers using body cameras fell by 87 percent.

"We are witnessing a new chapter in policing in New Jersey with the reforms we are implementing in partnership with law enforcement and community leaders. And, with the body cameras we are funding, we will literally have an objective witness to how police carry out their duties," said Gov. Murphy on Tuesday of this week.

With reporting by Anthony Bellano

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