Decision on BPD body cameras could alter focus of mayoral primary race
Mayor Martin J. Walsh is facing a politically risky decision on the police department’s controversial body camera program just weeks before he takes on two challengers in the preliminary mayoral election — a dilemma that is thrusting the charged issue front and center into the race.
Police spokesman Lt. Detective Michael P. McCarthy said police officials haven’t decided on the future of the program, which is scheduled to end in September.
“The purpose of the pilot is to do a comprehensive evaluation of the use of body worn cameras,” McCarthy wrote yesterday in response to a question about the trial.
Walsh will face off with City Councilor Tito Jackson and Roxbury native Joseph A. Wiley in a preliminary election Sept. 26. Jackson, in particular, has been sharply critical of Walsh and the police department’s failure to fully implement body cameras on the force.
During an appearance on Boston Herald Radio in March, Jackson said, “the current commissioner is not dealing with this issue of the implementation of body cameras in an acceptable fashion,” adding, “We have dragged our feet.”
As part of the pilot program, 100 members of the police department have worn body cameras since last September.
Although the trial — which was initially unpopular with the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association — was meant to run for six months, Walsh and Commissioner William B. Evans extended the program to mid-September so more data could be collected.
Thankfully, the police department has so far avoided the kind of high-profile shootings that sparked demands for the technology nationwide. The department also received national praise for safely monitoring a so-called “Free Speech” rally earlier this month that drew 40,000 counterprotesters to the Common.
But support for full-scale body camera implementation remains strong among community groups such as the Boston Police Camera Action team, and Jackson is likely to push hard on the issue in the days leading up to the election.