Holmdel Police Getting Body Cameras

HOLMDEL, NJ - Holmdel Township applied for, and received, a $15,000 federal grant that will pay for the outfitting of its police department with body cameras.

Holmdel will be the first town in the Bayshore region to use the technology: Middletown, Hazlet and Aberdeen all currently do not have body cameras, although Aberdeen just upgraded their in-car camera system in December.

Holmdel will purchase 30 cameras with the grant, and any additional cost will be covered by the Township. Holmdel was one of 37 towns across the state that applied for the federal grants, which were distributed by the New Jersey Attorney General's office. In Monmouth County, only Holmdel and Wall Township applied for the money, and both were accepted. Wall received a $32,000 grant for 64 cameras.

Here is the entire list of all the towns that will get the cameras. Police departments had to apply through their county prosecutor's office to receive the federal funds. Perth Amboy and Bayonne received the largest grants in the state — a $50,000 grant for 100 cameras in Perth Amboy and a $90,000 grant for 180 cameras in Bayonne.

New Jersey is at the national forefront when it comes to police use of body cameras: Only a few years ago, just 50 police agencies in the state had body cameras. Today, after two rounds of federal funding distributed by the Attorney General, more than 240 – nearly half of the roughly 500 law enforcement agencies in the state – have the cameras.

Linden was one of the first police departments in New Jersey to start using body cameras, and a camera worn by an officer there captured an interaction he had with Ahmad Rahimi, suspected of planting bombs in Chelsea over the summer.

Patch file photo (Shutterstock)