A consultant has been hired to implement a body-worn camera program for police officers in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Virginia-based Winbourne Consulting has been awarded a $300,500 contract to advise the Springfield Police Department on purchasing equipment, training officers, and rolling out the use of body cameras.
Last June, in a breakthrough, the patrolman’s union voted to approve a contract allowing its members to wear body cameras.
Mayor Domenic Sarno said he’s disappointed cameras are not already in use.
"I have sent the powers-that-be a message to get this done ASAP," Sarno said recently. "We are not inventing the wheel here."
Sarno pledged to make funds for the body cameras a budget priority.