Providence Police get federal grant to fund body cameras

By: News Staff.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

news@abc6.com

Providence, R.I. — All of Providence’s uniformed police officers will soon be outfitted with body cameras after the city secured a $375,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.

The award, announced Monday, is part of a $20 million disbursement from the Justice Department’s Body-Worn Camera Policy and Implementation Program to law enforcement agencies nationwide.

Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare says the cost of the program, including electronic data storage, will run between $300,000 and $400,000 annually. Providence has made an initial commitment for two years. 

The grant is a 50/50 grant, so the program cannot begin until the city comes up with the other half. The city launched a pilot program for the body-worn cameras this past spring but needed additional funding to fully implement it.

All uniformed officers will be required to wear the cameras and turn them on in specific circumstances, including arrests, traffic stops and interactions that escalate.

However, the Providence ACLU feels officers’ discretion in this is too broad. "That’s a big sticking point for the ACLU, for privacy advocates, for people who are paying attention to policing,” said Policy Associate Hillary Davis. “We think it’s really important that there is no discretion for a law enforcement officer to turn a camera on and off."

Police say they’ll be keeping close tabs on how the cameras are used, adding the body camera footage will also serve as a training tool. "It’s like a coach on a team, where they get to view how the play went and what was right and what was wrong,” explained Capt. Dean Isabella. “Video footage allowed us to be able to do that."

Meanwhile, the Providence NAACP President Jim Vincent is applauding the measure, saying it will improve transparency and trust. "We’ll get more of a complete picture of exactly what happened and if there’s a bias in a situation, it’ll be clear to everybody," he said.

Pare says 225 officers will be provided the equipment, which is being purchased from TASER International. Detectives will not be equipped with the cameras.

©WLNE-TV, Associated Press 2016