FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 12, 2021
CONTACT INFO:
Captain Floyd Gardner
East Providence Police Department
401-435-7600
East Providence Police to begin body worn and in-car camera pilot program
EAST PROVIDENCE, RI – The East Providence Police Department announces the launch of a pilot body-worn and in-car camera program. This program, if fully adopted will create better transparency between the department and the community it serves. A combination of six patrol officers and supervisors have volunteered to wear the body-worn cameras during a trial period, which is scheduled to last approximately three to four months starting March 16, 2021. The field-testing testing phase will allow for these officers to properly assess the effectiveness of each vendor’s equipment. Officer participation in the pilot program was granted upon the completion of training sessions on the usage of vendor’s equipment.
A “working policy” has been implemented during the test phase of the camera systems to ensure we are operating in compliance with the law and to assuage privacy concerns of our community members. This “working policy” will be subject to change depending on our assessment of the equipment’s effectiveness. Officers participating in the pilot program have been trained on the recording of victims of crimes. All releases of videos will be in compliance with RI General Law 31-21.2.5 and as it relates to the Public Records Act.
