The news was announced Tuesday by Mayor Domenic Sarno and Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood.
Sarno called the grant, awarded under the Department of Justice’s Body-Worn Camera Policy and Implementation Program, a welcome addition that will aid the city in deploying body cameras as soon as possible.
“This will only continue to enhance and build mutual respect and trust with all of our Springfield community and our police department,” Sarno said.
He also thanked Rep. Richard E. Neal for his work to secure the funding.
Clapprood said will help offset some of the initial costs associated with equipping the department with the new technology.
“We are currently in our testing-and-evaluation phase, and with Mayor Sarno’s continued support, we will soon be making the important decision on which vendor to partner with,” she said.
The city in August received offers from 10 separate companies interested in supplying body cameras.
An evaluation committee went over each proposal and narrowed the field down to four, and made plans to put each system through a trial run, said police spokesman Ryan Walsh.
Over the last week, representatives from three of the four companies have each come in and given presentations to the 30 police officers on the review committee, along with the city Law Department and District Attorney’s Office. The fourth company is scheduled to appear next week, Walsh said.
Before a final decision will be made, officers will then take each of the four remaining camera systems and put them through various real-life simulations to determine which best meets the department’s needs.
Clapprood said she would like to have a finalist selected and then begin a limited rollout with some officers fitted with cameras by the end of this year. The long-term goal is to have the 500 officers in the department trained and equipped with the cameras sometime in 2020.
The mayor and City Council have favored body cameras for police for the last few years, but the idea went nowhere until the police patrol officers’ and supervisors unions agreed to them in their contract negotiations. The patrols officers contract was settled in 2018, and the supervisors union in March.
Body cameras, which continually record officers in their duties, are seen by the public as a way to increase accountability and to reduce police misconduct. For police, they are seen as a way to protect officers from being wrongfully accused of wrong-doing.
Neal, in a statement, said "The funds are important and timely, and will be used to ensure officer and civilian safety across every neighborhood in our city.”
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