Body Cams For Boston Police Are Here To Stay: Mayor Walsh

BOSTON, MA — Boston will be expanding the Police body camera program, Mayor Marty Walsh announced Thursday.

Walsh released the final report on Boston's body-worn cameras pilot program and announced plans to expand it through a phased-in approach.

"The overall findings of the report indicate the small, but meaningful benefits that the placement of body cameras have on encounters between residents and police officers. As a next step, the City of Boston plans to expand the body-worn camera program through a phased-in approach and the City is engaging in conversations with the police unions," according to the Mayor's press release.

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"This study shows the potential value that body cameras can have as part of our overall strategy for strengthening ties between law enforcement and the residents they serve," said the mayor in a statement.

Outgoing Police Commissioner William Evans lauded his officers for taking the pilot program seriously.

"The results from this study show there is positive impact in the use of the body cameras. While the numbers in Boston are low, there is always room for improvement. If using technology like body cameras can help further improve the way we police, I'm happy to see the City's commitment to full implementation."

Boston Police Superintendent in Chief William Gross called the pilot an important step in understanding the community.

The findings indicate that body cameras generate small but meaningful benefits to police-citizen encounters, specifically in terms of officers receiving fewer complaints (approximately one fewer complaint per month), and fewer use of force reports (slightly less than one use of force report per month), according to the Mayor's office.

Citizen complaints and use of force reports were already on the decline before the pilot, according to the release. From 2013 to 2017, the number of complaints against officers went from 350 complaints in 2013 to 189 complaints in 2017. Use of force reports generated by BPD officers between 2013 and 2017 decreased from 107 reports in 2014 to 51 use of force reports in 2017.

The mayor's office attributed the declining numbers to training in unconscious bias and de-escalation.

"The findings of the randomized controlled trial suggest that the placement of body worn cameras on Boston Police officers generate small but meaningful benefits to the civility of police-citizen civilian encounters," said Dr. Anthony Braga, Northeastern University researcher.

The report suggests that: A process should be developed to make the public aware of any implementation process; A review process should be established to assure that videos exist in all appropriate cases, and that documentation exists in cases where a video was not recorded; A formal process should be developed for transferal of videos from police to prosecutors, and from prosecutors to defense attorneys.

"I'm grateful to BPD and Northeastern for thoroughly reviewing the pilot program, and to the Mayor for committing money to implement a permanent body camera program, a technology that not only serves our officers but also the community, and has real potential to build more trust between the two," said City Council President Andrea Campbell.

Based on preliminary analysis of the pilot program, Mayor Walsh included a $2 million investment in this year's budget for the adoption of police-worn body cameras, covering start-up costs and the purchase of up to 400 cameras. This builds off the initial $500,000 set aside in FY18 for the body camera pilot program.

Program costs for the first three years are estimated at $8.5 million, with annual recurring costs after FY21 estimated at $3.3 million, however final costs will be dependent on several factors and are subject to change.

Some 100 officers participated in a year-long body-worn camera pilot program that finished this past September. As part of the program, officers outfitted with body cameras generated roughly 38,200 videos that covered more than 4,600 hours of police work in Boston neighborhoods.

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