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Body Camera Program Officially Coming To Boston Police Force

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A police body camera worn by a police officer in Methuen. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
A police body camera worn by a police officer in Methuen. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

The Boston Police Department will officially begin phasing in a police body camera program. Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced on Thursday that the city will purchase up to 400 new cameras, though he didn't say which officers would wear them or when.

The news comes as the city also released a long awaited final report on its body camera pilot program, which ended Sept. 2017. The report, authored by Anthony Braga and Jack McDevitt of Northeastern University, says "while there is some promising evidence that [body worn cameras] de-escalate confrontation and aggression in police-citizen encounters, not all evaluations support this position."

Nonetheless, the Mayor's office maintains, "body cameras generate small but meaningful benefits to police-citizen encounters."

Guest

Milton Valencia, reporter for The Boston Globe. He tweets @MiltonValencia.

This article was originally published on August 02, 2018.

This segment aired on August 2, 2018.

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