Senator Eldridge Announces $78,000 Grant to Southborough Police Department for Implementation of Body-Worn Cameras
Grant will be used to provide law enforcement officers with the new technology
Southborough, MA — State Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton) is pleased to announce a $78,547 grant to the Southborough Police Department to establish a Body-Worn Camera (BWC) program. The grant, awarded by the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security’s (EOPSS) Office of Grants and Research (OGR), will allow the department to purchase and implement body-worn cameras for all officers.
The grant is part of the FY23 Body-Worn Cameras (BWC) Grant Program, which awarded a total of $2,494,752 to 32 municipal police departments across Massachusetts. Each department that applied for this year’s grant received either full or partial funding. The grant follows $4 million in funding, which was allocated to departments to implement body-worn camera programs by the Baker-Polito Administration in 2021. The additional funding will assist 27 departments in implementing new body-worn camera programs and five departments in expanding already existing programs.
As of January 2022, around 10 percent of municipal police departments in Massachusetts had implemented a body-worn camera program. A 2021 survey conducted by the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association found that many more Massachusetts police departments were interested in implementing their own BWC Programs. The programs are intended to improve community-police relationships, improve accountability of officers, prevent inappropriate police conduct and improve the overall safety of the community.
“There are many Massachusetts police departments who are eager to take this important step in police reform, but lack the funding to do so,” said State Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton) “I’m honored to announce this grant to the Southborough Police Department to help establish their own body-worn camera program, which will ensure that officers are held accountable, and will help strengthen the relationship between the officers and the Southborough community. I’m proud to have helped pass legislation to create a police oversight and accountability agency back with the police reform bill in 2020; BWC programs will further allow the agency to function effectively and use evidence to investigate allegations of police misconduct. I want to thank the Southborough Police Department for seeking out this grant, and the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security for administering this grant. I hope to see a continued investment in improving and expanding BWC programs across the state in the future.”
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