NORTHFIELD — Upcoming plans for the Police Department include implementing body cameras the town acquired in 2020 and hiring a full-time school resource officer.
While the Pioneer Valley Regional School District has had William Kimball as its part-time school resource officer since November 2020, the plan since his appointment has been to work toward having a full-time officer that could commit more hours to both the schools and the town.
“He’s got another full-time job,” Town Administrator Andrea Llamas said of Kimball, acknowledging his limited hours with the school district each week. “We did take him to fill that position at that time with that understanding.”
Speaking before the Selectboard last week, Police Chief Jon Hall said he received five applications for the full-time school resource officer position, and has since narrowed the field to one finalist, who will be interviewed by a panel on Feb. 24.
“Full-time allows for a better candidate pool,” said Llamas, noting that whoever is chosen would need to maintain full-time police officer status and undergo all the involved training requirements. “It would benefit the school and the town.”
The town is already budgeting for a full-time school resource officer, Llamas said. Half of the expense is paid by the Pioneer school district.
Another project of the Police Department involves implementing body cameras that were bought by former Chief Robert Leighton in 2020, but that Hall said have “been on the back-burner for a while.”
“The hold-up a little bit is that they’re still talking about policies and procedures in the state,” Hall told the Selectboard, referencing the Law Enforcement Body Camera Task Force created by the Legislature as part of police reform laws. “The latest issues have been essentially whether officers can review the video before writing their report.”
While Hall said some chiefs are waiting to start using their body cameras until after the state finalizes its policy language, which isn’t expected to happen until September or October, he would like to start using them sooner and expects to discuss a policy with the Selectboard in a couple months. He noted he is hiring new officers and would like the rollout of the body cameras to match up with their arrival.
“About 10% of towns in Massachusetts have body cameras, so we’re not way behind,” Hall said. “It’s way overdue, but at the same time it’s not something I’m going to rush into. We have to do it right.”
Likewise, Selectboard member Alex Meisner, who noted he supports body cameras, said he hopes the Police Department’s policy for their use — which Hall plans to model after neighboring towns, such as Gill — can be as comprehensive as possible.
“You can’t always have a policy for every scenario,” Meisner said, “but let’s try to cross our t’s and dot our i’s.”
Another obstacle, Hall said, has been ensuring Town Hall has the technology needed to store the data from the cameras, noting he and Llamas have been working with an IT consultant.
Following Hall’s presentation, Selectboard members emphasized their support for the body cameras.
“I think that the body cameras are critical to proving the integrity of our officers,” Selectboard Clerk Bernard “Bernie” Boudreau said.
“For me, police cameras are the norm,” commented board member Mary Bowen. “It is our present and our future.”
Reach Shelby Ashline at 413-772-0261, ext. 270 or sashline@recorder.com.