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A Ride-Along With The Methuen Police Department

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A Los Angeles Police officer wears an on-body camera during a demonstration for media in Los Angeles in 2014. On Wednesday, 100 Boston police officers will begin a six-month body camera pilot program. (Damian Dovarganes/AP)
A Los Angeles Police officer wears an on-body camera during a demonstration for media in Los Angeles in 2014. 100 Boston police officers have begun a six-month body camera pilot program. (Damian Dovarganes/AP)

Charlotte, North Carolina, is the latest American city to deal with the fallout — in this case, the violent fallout — of a police shooting of an African-American man. There have been scores of these tragedies, from New York to Ferguson to Tulsa — and now Charlotte.

They're fueling the push for police body cameras, which advocates say protect members of the community and police, who often face difficult, split-second life-or-death decisions.

Here in Boston, a hundred police officers are now equipped with body cameras as part of a six-month pilot program. The Boston Police Patrolmen's Association resisted it, but after a judge sided with the city, the plan is going forward.

Other police departments in Massachusetts are moving into this new world, including police in Methuen, which this summer became the first major force in the state to put body cams on all of its uniformed patrol officers.

We ride along with one Methuen police officer to see how the program is working.

This segment aired on September 22, 2016.

Related:

Headshot of Jamie Bologna

Jamie Bologna Senior Producer/Director, Radio Boston
Jamie Bologna was senior producer and director of Radio Boston.

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