Students Support Body Cameras-Police Weigh Cost, Policy and Privacy
SALEM, Mass., May 10, 2017 — Although a recent survey found that Salem State students overwhelmingly support the use of body-worn cameras both in general and on campus, the university won’t be seeing them any time soon.
Police departments around the country — including the Boston Police — have begun adopting the cameras. However, both the Salem Police and the Salem State University Police say they are not ready to adopt the cameras at this time, citing policy, cost, and privacy concerns.
According to the Salem State Reports survey conducted between April 29 and May 6, 81 percent of all respondents support the use of body-worn cameras at Salem State. Of the 63 students, faculty, and alumni who participated, only 14 percent are unsure or have mixed feelings about body cameras, while 5 percent do not support their use.
Though the vast majority of all respondents support the use of body cameras, support is even higher among those who identify as non-white or as persons of color. In recent years, many human rights organizations have suggested that persons of color are in some cases disproportionately targeted by excessive use of force. Among this demographic, support for use of body cameras at Salem State rises to 93 percent.
Despite this overwhelming support, the Salem State Police department is not looking to implement body cameras any time soon.
“[I have] started experimented with the idea,” Chief Gene Labonte explained. “Am I ready to do it tomorrow? Absolutely not.”
“My issue with it really is… there’s not a lot of guidance,” Labonte said, citing the lack of policy associated with the cameras in Massachusetts.
According to Labonte, Massachusetts police departments — both municipal and state — are required to follow Public Records Law, which includes documenting and storing all records including video recordings. Because Salem State is a public university, the on-campus police “are appointed by and in-part regulated by the state police,” he said. Accordingly, the university police department would have to follow a statewide records schedule. The current schedule requires these records to be stored for a certain amount of time — and storage of multimedia data could be costly.
“They’re not cheap,” Labonte said of the devices. The university did at one time purchase a dashboard camera, however, it was purchased through a grant and is no longer functioning.
Privacy is another concern. Labonte explained that he is “less concerned of privacy of the officer [and] more concerned of the privacy of students.” Frequently, his officers respond to dorm rooms, which he compared to homes in terms of the amount of privacy that should be afforded. Privacy is also a concern within the classroom and other learning environments.
“I’m a strong believer in transparency,” Labonte said. He believes the cameras serve as a great training tool, provide evidence for complaints and cases, and help to piece together an unbiased account of officer interactions with the public.
“[The devices provide] more utility in the city than on a college campus,” Labonte said, noting that the number of serious incidents on a campus like Salem State is low compared to cities.
The city of Salem might adopt the cameras, but not immediately.
Salem Police Lieutenant Dennis King said his department “recognizes the benefits but need[s] to look at cost and privacy implications” before putting the devices to use.
King, a graduate of Salem State, said his department hopes to use the Boston Police pilot program, which began last September, and similar programs to examine the costs and benefits of utilizing these cameras.
“We are always interested in improving the ways we police the city and that includes the use of cameras — if the other questions around them are fully understood and addressed,” King said.
Dr. Eric Metchik, a criminal justice professor at Salem State, has researched police use of body-worn cameras.
“At least one study that I’ve seen so far has found positive attitudes [among police]: that the police feel it can protect them as well as citizens,” Metchik said. “I’ve also seen other studies where they were negative.”
Metchik added that Boston Police “had a lot of resistance initially.” Officers did not want to volunteer to use the devices when the initiative was rolled out, and the union got involved.
“There’s enough research to come up with conflicting findings in some areas,” Metchik noted, and added that he hopes that researchers will continue to investigate this issue.
Different municipalities across the state have been experimenting with body cameras in various ways.
As of March 2017, the Boston Police have extended their body camera pilot program. The program began September 12 of last year and will continue until September 11 of this year. Currently, 100 officers and eight command staff members are using body cameras.
Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans told the Boston Globe in a Mar. 12 article that “the program was going ‘very well’ and that he had not heard any complaints from officers, despite earlier opposition to the initiative.”
In Springfield, Mass., the city council’s public safety subcommittee is developing a proposal to implement body cameras on officers. The proposal would also add cameras in cruisers and in holding cells, according to an Apr. 13 article from MassLive.
(Salem State does not have holding cells on campus. If university police do need to detain a person, they transport the detainee to the Salem Police Department.)
Although university police do not use body or dashboard cameras in their cruisers, they do make use of fixed cameras around campus.
“There are cameras at most entry points,” Labonte said. There are limited cameras in the older buildings, but in the newer buildings there are cameras at entrances and in common areas. Moreover, the library, parking garage, and theatre were all configured with cameras in strategic locations, according to Labonte.
Labonte said the department also has a portable video camera that can be used for “high-profile” situations. If there is a sit-in or protest organized on campus, the department can deploy an officer with a video camera to record the situation.
Likewise, police in the city of Salem make use of surveillance cameras: cameras are used inside and around the police station. In the downtown area, cameras that were funded by federal grants for “domestic preparedness” were also installed in highly trafficked areas. These cameras are monitored by the Salem Police.
As the costs of the devices and storage drop, and as states adopt clearer policies, the use of body cameras seems likely to increase. And with such wide support for body cameras at places like Salem State, they may become a part of everyday policing.
“The bottomline is there’s a lot to think about; it’s not a simple decision,” said Metchik.
