Other cities and town’s taking notice of body cameras in Providence

Ana Bottary

abottary@news.com

@anabottary

For almost a month Providence Police officers have worn body cameras. They’re the first department in the state to do so and other departments are taking notice.

"I am in favor of body cameras; I think it’s a good tool to have for both the police officer as well as the citizens that we protect," says Acting Chief Chris Pelagio of North Providence Police
 
Acting Chief Pelagio says he’s closely following the pilot program in Providence. He says to learn from their successes and failures, and figure out which camera and storage system, would work best for the town as well as figuring out how to use them while making a wise decision about storing the footage.

"If these issues are vetted out through the Providence Police pilot program, that would clearly help us to ultimately establish it here in North Providence," says Acting Chief Pelagio.

The cameras are projected to cost between 50-100 thousand dollars. The union president in north providence police doesn’t have the same warm feelings about officers wearing cameras.
 
"Me personally I’m not for them, I don’t think there is a need for them, at least not in North Providence. I’m not against them either, I think there is not enough information provided to us," Says Union President Dennis Stone.
 
Stone says his concern is how the body cameras will impact the daily routines of officers..the, work environment and any impact of discipline.

"It’s not I’m worried about hiding anything because as far as I know there aren’t many if any complaints against officers in North Providence. If there were I’d probably have my hand up first saying we need these," Stone adds.

(c) WLNE-TV 2016