It’s taken more time than expected and a lot more money than initially set aside, but Plymouth police officers are finally being outfitted with body-worn cameras.
The department, which plans to unveil the cameras soon, hailed their arrival in a Facebook post as “a big step forward.”
“These cameras will enhance public safety, strengthen trust and provide an extra layer of accountability for both officers and the community,” it said.
Plymouth appears to be the last community in the area to embrace body cams, according to surveys and public information.
Body cams are intended to not only protect victims of crime but also protect officers from frivolous or false complaints.
Town and police officials have been trying since 2023 to bring the cameras to Plymouth. Last year they solicited bids for the equipment and even picked a vendor.
Police Chief Dana Flynn had the general support of the town’s two police unions — the Plymouth Police Brotherhood and the Plymouth Police Superior Officers’ Association.
But the unions wanted officers to be paid extra to use them and the cameras became part of union negotiations.
Also, the program will cost $500,000 more than originally projected – $1.31 million instead of $831,360.
Under a five-year contract with Axon Enterprises of Scottsdale, Arizona, the town is buying the cameras but leasing the services that go along with using them, officials said. They said it is saving money through the lease arrangement.
The contract, signed in October, will supply 140 cameras, along with training, maintenance, and support. The previous contract would have called for 128 cameras.
The town will use more than $500,000 from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to pay for the body cams — at least for the first two years of the five-year contract.
After that, the town will have to pick up the tab, according to town records and Town Manager Derek Brindisi.
In the police contracts that went into effect in July, officers will get paid something called a “professional standards stipend.”
It will be doled yearly— not just to compensate officers for wearing the body cams — but also for operating unspecified “other devices” and meeting requirements set by the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, or POST, according to the contracts.
Patrol officers who qualify will receive $2,600 a year in addition to their salary and other benefits. Superior officers will be eligible for $2,900, according to the contracts, which took effect in July.
Flynn declined to discuss the body cams with the Plymouth Independent for this story, opting instead to unveil the program through a YouTube video produced by The Local Seen, part of Plymouth Area Community Access Television. The promotional video features town communications coordinator Casey Kennedy interviewing Lt. Marc Higgins about the program.
“We are still in the training and familiarization period,” Flynn wrote in an email. “Once fully implemented we will be putting our own notice on our media page. Once that is done, I will be happy to discuss your questions…”
Brindisi praised Flynn for his “continued efforts in strengthening the department’s community policing model and his quest to modernize police operations.”
“Body-worn cameras will improve law enforcement accountability and enhance safety for both the officer and our citizens,” he said.
The state has a program to help communities foot the bill for the expensive technology.
Over the past several years the “Law Enforcement Body-Worn Camera Program” has given more than $13 million to 139 police departments statewide, according to the state Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.
“This technology has become an essential tool for law enforcement,” Gov. Maura Healey said after announcing a round of grants in July.
Many area towns received grants — which ranged from $4,000 to $250,000 —including Bridgewater, East and West Bridgewater, Kingston, Bourne, Rockland, Hanover, Duxbury, and Hingham.
Plymouth was not one of them, according to state officials.
Kennedy said the town didn’t qualify for state (and some federal) grants because agreements weren’t yet in place with the police unions.
Also, the grants were not available to communities with leases, only to cities and towns buying the cameras and services outright, she said.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.