Amid the 2020 police reform movement in Massachusetts, state leaders promised body camera footage would provide the public with more transparency.
Since then, the state has announced over $10 million in grants to launch body camera programs in more than 110 police departments.
But years later, 25 Investigates finds Massachusetts still does not release body camera footage in a consistent or timely manner.
“If it is the case that your local police department simply shrugs off public records requests or ignores the press when they want information about a shooting or an incident captured by a body-worn camera, that’s a problem with your local democracy,” Kade Crockford, director of the Technology for Liberty program at the ACLU of Massachusetts, said.
25 Investigates sent out public records requests to 316 local police departments statewide – seeking copies of policies, stipends paid to officers, storage costs, as well as body camera footage released to the public in 2023. As of Monday, about 55% of police departments responded to 25 Investigates’ public records requests sent in early January.