NORWICH — An effort to provide Norwich’s police officers with body cameras faced a setback last week when town officials declined to accept a donation for the equipment.
However, officials say, the discussion over whether to join a growing number of police forces across the country purchasing and equipping body cameras isn’t over.
The Selectboard plans to soon start discussions about setting aside money for the devices in Norwich’s capital plan, and there was talk last week about reviewing policies to prepare for their adoption.
“We wanted to make sure that body cameras are part of a deliberative process for capital planning,” Selectboard Chairman Roger Arnold said Monday while explaining the unanimous vote to return a gift from the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation.
“The board very much hopes to take these conversations up in the spring and summer of this year,” he added.
The foundation — the creation of Etna residents Dorothy Byrne and her late husband, insurance executive John J. (Jack) Byrne — offered Norwich $30,000 to help pay for four body cameras and four in-car cameras requested by then-Norwich Police Chief Jennifer Frank.
Frank, who is now the Windsor chief, solicited the donation in October, writing to the nonprofit that the town’s department of four full-time and three part-time police officers was running on an “austerity budget” and couldn’t afford the upgrades.
There was a particular need for in-car cameras, Frank wrote. While the current sets were purchased and installed in 2013, she said, they were already “antiquated, unreliable and incompatible” with the software and technology that runs body cameras.
If the donation was approved, Norwich would have joined Upper Valley communities Lebanon, Hanover, Enfield, Hartford and Haverhill in adopting police body cameras.
Vermont State Police began rolling out the use of body cameras last year, while there is legislation pending in the Granite State to buy body cameras for New Hampshire State Police.
Advocates of the devices say they increase transparency and protect both civilians and police officers from accusations of wrongdoing by documenting incidents.
To that effect, Neil Fulton, Norwich’s former town manager, told the Selectboard last week that he found dashboard cameras useful in settling disputes.
“When I had complaints about the performance of an officer, it was really convenient to be able to take a look at that dashcam to see what the circumstances were,” Fulton said, adding the videos also were useful for training.
But board members were reluctant to accept the donation, saying they didn’t yet have the policies in place to handle public records requests and questions over privacy that would inevitably arise.
They also asked about the costs of maintaining and storing footage. The Washington Postreported in 2019 that while about half the nation’s 18,000 law enforcement agencies have some type of body camera program, some are doing away with the cameras after incurring thousands of dollars in maintenance fees.
Those issues aren’t insurmountable, though, said Selectboard member Marcia Calloway, who encouraged her colleagues to tackle the policy questions deliberately during future meetings.
“Sometimes doing something badly is as bad as not doing it at all,” Calloway said.
Meanwhile, others suggested that body cameras might not be needed in Norwich because of the police department’s reputation within the community.
“I trust our police department,” said Selectboard member Robert Gere. “I trust our officers to exercise their responsibilities well.”
Meanwhile, the majority of residents who spoke during last week’s meeting and wrote letters to the Selectboard also called for officials to reject the donation. Norwich resident Jon Felde called cameras a waste of money that doesn’t eliminate police misconduct, in a March 18 letter.
“Rather than expend your effort on heightening our police state, direct your attention and resources to making people less desperate in their lives,” he said, advocating for the town to increase its contribution to drug treatment programs and other social services.
Arnold, the Selectboard chairman, said Monday that while he “greatly appreciates” the Byrne Foundation gift, he agreed that returning it was best. Traditionally, he said, the town had used federal and state grants to pay for police upgrades, and the town plans to revisit whether it can solicit donations from nonprofits to cover costs.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.