Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said Friday that police officers not wearing body cameras during overtime shifts is an issue surrounding lack of equipment. The city is ordering more body cameras so officers will be wearing them during overtime shifts, he said.
Officers not wearing body cameras while working overtime has drawn significant criticism. The police department's official policy on body cameras makes no mention of overtime shifts, which The Boston Globe on Thursday called "a gaping loophole" that allows officers not to wear them during overtime shifts.
"What it is is an equipment issue. We’ve ordered more equipment to fix that problem," said Walsh on Boston Public Radio.
More than 1,000 officers are now equipped with cameras, Walsh said, after the policy rolled out last year following a battle with the union.
A press released from May 2019 , issued ahead of the launch of the body camera pilot program, stated that "there are circumstances during which uniformed officers will not be wearing cameras as this roll out begins. These circumstances are based off camera battery life and roles of department personnel."
The press release states that "Officers performing a paid detail or working overtime" and "Detectives performing a uniformed paid detail or working overtime" are examples of when an officer would not wear a body camera.
Walsh said officers sometimes don't work overtime shifts in their regular assignments, and don't have the capability to recharge or pick up new cameras.
Police unions have come under increased scrutiny in general, after weeks of demonstrations in the wake of George Floyd's killing at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis.
Walsh spoke broadly about police reform on Friday, days after the City Council approved Walsh's $3.61 billion budget proposal for fiscal year 2021. The five councilors who voted against the proposal pushed for more progressive change to the police department, including a full implementation of body cameras.
Boston Police contracts are set to expire at the end of June, with negotiations underway amid growing calls for stronger oversight. Walsh did not discuss specific items on the negotiating table, but acknowledged that the current due process around disciplining police officers is.
"We will need, in some cases, legislative action to fix some of this," he said. "Unfortunately, the process is flawed. Right now the process is out of my control, it’s out of everyones control. The union, they're going to advocate on behalf of their members, in some case they have an obligation to do that because they have to."
Walsh's budget diverts $12 million from the police overtime budget to public health, which Rep. Ayanna Pressley said was a drop in the bucket.
"They’re not wrong," said Walsh on Friday. "It’s a drop in the bucket, but we’ll put several drops in the bucket ... around economic development, around policing, around youth engagement, all of those different places. We also need the federal goverment, to be honest."
