LETTER: Despite approval of grant, Framingham police still haven't adopted bodycams

To the Editor:

A year later and still no body-worn cameras for the Framingham Police Department.

On May 6, 2023, at a FinCom meeting held on a Saturday in the Blumer Room, a member of the public handed Chief Baker a copy of the body-worn camera grant application from the Commonwealth. It's eight pages long and asks in detail how Framingham police will use the grant funds for bodycams.

These grants have been available since 2020 and were discussed at various public meetings with Mayor Sisitsky and Chief Baker. From 2021 through May 2023, Chief Baker did not apply for the grants amid calls for transparency and accountability at the Framingham Police Department. The mayor had done nothing on the grant funding from the time he took office in 2022.

The grant application was finally submitted to the state on July 27.

The grant was approved by the state on Oct. 6 — $211,000 for 140 body-worn cameras. But the public learned in late 2023, from the mayor, that Chief Baker did not want to require his department to wear the cameras. At a district council meeting in late 2023, the current patrolman’s contract would not prevent Framingham police management from directing rank-and-file members to wear the bodycams without negotiations.

Since 2020, at no point did any city councilor or the mayor suggest or recommend — or even show much interest — in police reform, transparency or accountability. Now the public waits to hear how much extra money the unions want taxpayers to pay for transparency and accountability from its police force.

Jim Pillsbury

Framingham

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Framingham residents still waiting for police to adopt bodycams