FPD Body Cam update
On 5.13.23 I attended a public finance-subcommittee meeting. A rare event on a Saturday. See blog post May 8th, DPW, FPD, Park&Rec. I was asked to be brief and was lucky I was given 10 minutes to ask questions and to give Chief Baker a copy of the state grant application. And I am glad I did since the Mayor or the Chief ever saw it before.
See at 1:46:00 http://vod-framingham.cablecast.tv/CablecastPublicSite/show/2843?channel=1
In the budget, under small capital lurked appropriations request for buying 8 vehicles, but postponing 4 at 65k each, 100 tasers and 200k for a pilot program for 20 body cams. The total was 571k. Pushing FPD budget to almost 20 million.
Fast forward to this past Wednesday’s finance subcommittee meeting. I did not check the meeting portal for any new updates before the meeting, which I should have and had egg on my face when I learned the finance subcommittee made a 250k cut in FPD budget yesterday before the meeting.
So now FPD will apply for the state grant to buy the body cams… hopefully all 100. And use free cash if the grant falls through. You can bet I will be watching.
I thank the finance subcommittee for listening to the tax payers and doing the right thing for us in requesting FPD use the state grant to buy the body cams.
posted by Jim Pillsbury @ 2:27 PM
7 Comments
7 Comments:
Take a victory lap Jim Pillsbury. Your persistence has paid off.
At last nights city council meeting nothing was said about the reduction of the police budget and the grant application you gave the Police Chief.
I noticed that as well. I'm just glad they all got the message. The administration can't hide from this now, everyone will be watching to see when the grant is filed. And even if they screw this up, I pledge to not rest until I see 100 cameras on 100 cops who carry tasers.
Not surprised they district council did not recognize you Jim. Obviously, they are all afraid you are going to run against Cannon. We unfortunately have stacked our council with many from the same political camp which is never good, even if they are the camp you agree with. We need more diversity in our government, and more transparency. Clearly non of the councilors were paying attention as none of them raised the issue of the grant with the police chief Now how do we make sure he actually applies for the grant?
About time we got these cameras. Would have been great to have them years ago when Mr. Stamps died
You would think, in an election year, counselors seeking re-election would have the sense to push for body cams. After all, it is part of the police reform law that was passed two years ago. Thirty six communities already have them , including 2000 thousand state cops.
It is discouraging not to see our state reps, two of which live here, not encourage the administration to get the body cams. But on the other hand, Beacon Hill is built on little to no transparency and accountability.
All I or anyone can do is monitor the grant process.
Last night's CC meeting. You will note that when it came time to approving the budget, not everyone had the same info. This poorly organized background material has been a problem since the new CFO was hired. The council had to take a 5 minute recess to figure out who had what report. And there are more than a few of them who have no idea what's going on.
We learned from the meeting, the administration is negotiating with two police unions to wear the body cams. And the mayor said he will ask the council to approve money for a pilot program which was brought up by Adam. And of coarse Cannon who just doesn't get it mentioned that we cant apply for the grant (that someone from a previous meeting gave to the chief) because we don't have the union agreement. The council knows how bad this whole episode looks for them.
Without the union agreement, we cannot apply for the grant. How much money should the city pay the FPD for transparency and accountability?
Have a look see 2:01.15 to 2:03.50 http://vod-framingham.cablecast.tv/CablecastPublicSite/show/2871?channel=1
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home