Months After Cops Told to Wear Cameras, Police Dept Suddenly Settles Union Grievance

Selectmen Approve Police Body Cameras

Police Chief’s Statement to Board of Selectmen in Support of Police Body Cameras

Board of Selectmen May Approve Police Body Cameras Monday Night

Public Safety

By David Gurliacci | July 21, 2017

Government & Politics

By David Gurliacci | August 8, 2016

Government & Politics

By David Gurliacci | August 8, 2016

Government & Politics

By David Gurliacci | August 7, 2016

Taser Axon Body 2 police body camera 07-21-17

Months ago, without mentioning the implementation of the policy to the public, the Darien Police Department instructed officers to wear body cameras, regularly recording all interactions with the pubic. What various town officials have said as recently as Monday about a union complaint over how the policy was being implemented seems to be contradicted by an agreement reached Thursday between the town and the union. First, the agreement announced Friday shows town’s bargaining position appears to have been weak, even though town officials indicated it was strong. Second, the negotiations — completed Thursday, five months after the grievance was filed — were far from dead in the water, as town officials indicated Monday. Town officials weren’t in their offices late Friday afternoon when Darienite.com sought comment from them: Police Chief Ray Osborne was out of the office by mid-afternoon Friday, not long after police announced the agreement.

The Darien Board of Selectmen on Monday unanimously approved spending $87,000 for body cameras to be worn regularly by 48 town police officers after hearing that police-public relations have become more tense and the state may pay the full cost of the program’s first year. The proposal now goes before the Board of Finance and then the Representative Town Meeting (which doesn’t meet until September) before the town can purchase the cameras and the more expensive digital storage and retrieval system for the videos. “The heightened state of tension that now exists surrounding law enforcement has reached a level not seen in my 34 years as a police officer,” Police Chief Duane Lovello told the board in a prepared statement. “We have seen some horrible footage of police misconduct occurring from other parts of the country.” ____________

Darien Police Chief Duane Lovello spoke to the Board of Selectmen on Monday to again ask for body cameras for police, and the board unanimously granted the request. Here’s Lovello’s prepared statement:

Good evening. Thank you for allowing me to come before you this evening to once again discuss funding for a body camera program for the Police Department. As you know, a request for funding for such a program in the approximate amount of $87,000 was submitted during budget presentations for the fiscal year which just started on July 1. That request was not funded. The thoughtful nature of the comments made by some members of the board in denying the request were not at all lost on me; among these were the evolving nature of the technology associated with body cameras and a general absence of complaints against the Darien Police Department that might otherwise highlight the need for the program.

Taser Axon Body 2 police body cameras 8-7-16

« August 2022 »

A proposal for body cameras to be worn by Darien police officers is up for approval at Monday night’s Board of Selectmen meeting. The resolution proposed for approval by the board states that “use of body cameras is considered to be a law enforcement best practice.” In a Power Point presentation to the Board of Selectmen, dated July 28, the Police Department pointed out that body cameras would help with police investigations, documenting witness statements and police actions, and the cameras would also help hold police accountable and provide evidence in civil suits against police. _____________