Madison On List of Police Departments To Receive Body Cameras

MADISON, NJ— Madison Police Department will receive 30 body cameras worth $30,000 from the New Jersey Attorney General's Office.

Madison was one of 37 towns to apply for the grants last September. The grants are given by the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (“JAG”) Program. JAG is a federal program designed to help local governments control crime and improve police departments.

“We’ve made positive police-community relations a top priority in New Jersey through policies and programs that have been embraced by law enforcement and community stakeholders alike, including our efforts to promote the use of body cameras by police,” Attorney General Porrino said in a statement. “This new round of funding for body cameras will keep New Jersey in the vanguard nationally in using this technology, which promotes transparency in policing while protecting officers in their difficult and dangerous jobs.”

Police departments had to request funding, and agencies are not required to do so. Currently, 240 of the state's 500 law enforcement agencies use body cameras.

“We’re rapidly reaching the tipping point where a majority of the police departments in New Jersey will have body cameras, and the remaining departments are likely to follow suit,” Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice said in a statement. “Police departments recognize that these devices are powerful tools for promoting mutual accountability and trust between police and the communities they serve.”

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