Starting June 21st, the Police Department will be rolling out Phase 1 of its body worn camera program. At its outset, several officers will be deploying body worn cameras and providing feedback to the Chief on policy, procedure, & operational experience. This phase will last for several weeks until subsequent rollout periods, whereby additional groups of officers will deploy them until the entire agency is fully operational. The body worn cameras were fully funded by the state’s grant and were purchased earlier this year after extensive research and exploration. A model policy that was jointly developed by several Rhode Island entities and stakeholders was adopted earlier this year and is available on the Cumberland Police website.
Chief Benson reports, “This program seeks to come into alignment with the Rhode Island Police Chiefs’ Association’s Twenty for ’20 campaign, as the department looks to further our commitment to transparency and constitutional policing. We believe that body worn cameras are a tremendous tool for enhancing the trust and legitimacy of contemporary policing and provides for mutual accountability in citizen/police contacts.”