Police Body-Worn Cameras
Barrington is fortunate to have an ever-growing number of trails and recreational opportunities. In recent years, the amount has grown dramatically with SELT’s Stonehouse Forest and the expansion of the Town’s Goodwill property. The Fire Chief has regularly advised the Board and community about the increased demand these recreational spaces put on his department. He has explained that the increasing calls for service will eventually require additional equipment for his department to meet the needs of the community.
February 4, 2021
The Barrington Police Department has finished the lengthy process of implementing the use of Body Worn Cameras (BWCs).
This process started over a year ago with a thoughtful and diligent process in order to be able to provide the best possible service to the community. The introduction of this new equipment will aid in the training of new officers, better prosecution, and an overall more transparent Police Department.
Please do not be alarmed should you have contact with one of our officers and are advised by the officer that they are wearing a BWC. Should you have any questions about the laws and regulations that govern BWCs we encourage you to review NH RSA's 105-D and 33-A: 3.
November 30, 2020 (Select Board Meeting)
The body-worn camera equipment has arrived in Barrington and Police Department leadership is finalizing the implementation timeline. As part of that process, the Body Worn Camera Policy must be finalized.
See attached, Barrington Police Department Body Worn Camera Policy 201117
As described during various stages of the process to acquire body worn cameras, State statutes regarding body worn cameras read much like a policy and leaves few questions unanswered. Although the policy is consistent with RSA 105-D, we submitted the attached policy for independent legal review out of an abundance of caution. Town counsel is comfortable with the policy as presented.
Motion to approve, with the following changes:
- Add “up to and including termination of employment.” to section L
- Remove the brand name of item in favor of “body worn camera”
- Add “manufacturer’s recommended maintenance schedule will be followed”
By Selectperson Saccoccia, seconded by Selectperson Ayer. Roll call vote: Ayer – Aye, Bailey – Aye, Knapp- Aye, Saccoccia – Aye, Hardekopf – Aye. The motion passed.
August 10, 2020 (Select Board Meeting)
The Request for Proposals was advertised and attracted four responses. The Police Department evaluated the responses and provided a summary and recommendation in the document below.
See attached, Body Worn Camera Selection Summary and Recommendation – 200805
Motion to award the bid to Axon for a total five-year cost of $52,337.00 by Selectperson Ayer, seconded by Acting Chair Bailey. Roll call vote: Ayer – Aye, Bailey – Aye, Saccoccia – Aye, Hardekopf - Aye. The motion passed.
July 13, 2020 (Select Board Meeting)
Over the past few months, the Police Department has been working through policy development for the new technology.
The Department is ready to advertise a request for proposals. The committee within the Police Department has worked closely with the primary equipment manufacturers for these cameras. These companies will simply need to update their proposals which were originally submitted during the information-gathering phase.
The proposals would be due by July 22nd and a recommendation would be presented to the Select Board at the July 27th meeting.
Motion to authorize advertisement of an RFP for body-worn cameras by Selectperson Ayer, seconded by Selectperson Knapp. Ayer – Aye, Bailey – Aye, Knapp -Aye, Saccoccia – Aye, Hardekopf - Aye. The motion passed.
March 10, 2020 (Town Meeting Ballot Session)
Voters supported the budget and funding for body-worn cameras. The next step will include advertising a request for proposals to select a body-worn camera provider.
August 26, 2019 (Select Board Meeting)
Video* • Minutes
The Barrington Police Department has performed a thoughtful approach to consider implementing body and/or cruiser cameras. Members of the Police Department committee tasked with this process will present their findings and seek feedback from the Select Board.
See attached, Police Body and Cruiser Cameras Presentation
Research for this presentation included discussions with each officer on the Town’s Police Department, neighboring communities which utilize cameras, and discussions with Barrington’s Technology Committee. The presentation included costs, reasons for and against body worn and cruiser cameras, regulations surrounding the use of cameras, and concerns. The PowerPoint presentation with additional facts and figures can be viewed here. Body cameras would increase the budget by 1%. Federal grants are no longer available for cruiser cameras, Highway grants may be available in the spring of 2020. After six years the Town would own the cameras, and pay for data storage at a rate of $.75 per gigabyte per year. The contract as written is for storage of 1.5 terabytes, and content can be downloaded to the Town’s server from cloud storage. The camera footage must be downloaded before viewing, it is not available in real time for viewing in the field, and there are barriers in place to prevent any tampering or editing. Staff hours for maintenance or record retention should not be increased using these devices. The Select Board agreed that body worn cameras may be included in theupcoming budget presentation, and Chief Williams will research additional grant funding for cruiser cameras before requesting them.
*Twelve minutes into the Select Board meeting of August 26, 2019, the camera equipment was moved in order to better capture the presentation by the Police Department for body and cruiser cameras. The movement of the equipment caused a malfunction which stopped the video recording. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the lack of video recording for the August 26th meeting. The Barrington Select Board and staff are committed to open and transparent government.