FALL RIVER — With the Baker administration’s announcement earlier this month that it is offering $20 million in competitive grants to equip 9,000 municipal police departments with body-worn cameras, the city is pivoting from a planned pilot program to seeking a grant that could supply most of the force with the devices.
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Fall River Police Chief Jeffrey Cardoza said he met with the city’s grant writer, Jane DiBiasio, this week to start the process.
“I brought her a ton of information. We are starting to prepare. It’s due Aug. 30 so we’ll certainly have it in by then,” said Cardoza. “We’re hoping a decision can come sometime in November.”
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Cardoza said that, following “best practices,” the police department will request individual body-worn cameras for every sergeant, detective and patrol officer in the department, which means a funding request for 215 devices.
The Office of Grants and Research under the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security will manage the five-year multimillion-dollar program, according to a press release.
Included in the grant will be money to fund the servers necessary to securely store video.
“Body-worn cameras create opportunities to strengthen relationships between local law enforcement and the communities they serve,” said Gov. Charlie Baker. “We look forward to partnering with cities and towns to provide these important resources that will improve transparency and accountability.”
Massachusetts police departments can apply for funds to start new body-worn camera programs or to expand existing programs.
Only 10% of the state’s municipal police departments use body cameras, but according to a Massachusetts Chief of Police Association poll conducted recently, three out of four departments in the commonwealth showed interest in starting a program.
Originally, the Community Development Agency was using $15,682 in funding from a Community Development Block Grant for the pilot program, which would have outfitted seven walking beat police officers with the body cameras.
The patrol union has agreed to allow the walking beat officers to participate in the pilot program, but negotiations are ongoing between the union for the superior officers and the city.
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Mayor Paul Coogan said he wants body-worn cameras for the police department.
“We’re going to get everyone in the room and come up with a solution,” said Coogan regarding union negotiations. “And we are going to be aggressively pursuing the grant.”
In preparation for the pilot program, Cardoza had already assembled a committee to develop a body-worn camera policy for the department. The committee is headed by former chief, now deputy chief, Albert Dupere, and includes various law enforcement members and civilians.
Cardoza said the committee has a draft of the policy, which will be included in the grant application. He said the preparation puts the department in what he believes is a good position to get the grant.
Jo C. Goode may be reached at [email protected]. Support local journalism and subscribe to The Herald News today!
