LYNN — Mayor Thomas M. McGee and the Lynn Police Department are hosting a Tele Town Hall on Tuesday, April 6 at 6 p.m. to discuss the Police Body Worn Cameras program, which will be launched by the end of the month.
The tele town hall came at the request of the Lynn Racial Justice Coalition in order to better educate the public on the use and purpose of the body cameras prior to the start of the program.
Months of dialogue between the city and the Lynn Racial Justice Coalition regarding the need for more transparency and accountability for interactions between the residents of the community and police resulted in this agreement between McGee and the Lynn Police Association.
“I look forward to providing the community with a chance to learn about the soon-to-be
implemented body worn cameras program for Lynn Police patrol officers,” said McGee. “I hope residents will take advantage of this opportunity to have questions and concerns
answered about the equipment and the body camera policy from members of the Lynn Police
Department and representatives from AXON, the company the state-of-the-art body camera
system is purchased from.”
Panelists for next week’s town hall will include McGee, Interim Chief of Police
Lenny Desmarais, Deputy Police Chief Mike Vail, Josh Bowling and representatives from AXON. It will also include Lt. Ashley Affonco and Officer Domingo Polonia, the Lynn Police officers who are overseeing the video evidence unit of the program.
“I believe the body-worn cameras will show the high standards to which the officers of the Lynn Police Department hold themselves,” said Desmarais.
The new policy will require officers who are assigned on patrol units to record all contact with civilians in the following situations: vehicle stops, investigation person stops, all dispatched calls for service involving contact with civilians, initial responses by patrol officers to calls, transport of prisoners, pat frisk and searches of persons incident to arrest, incidents of emergency and pursuit driving, when an officer reasonably believes a crowd control incident may result in unlawful activity, and any adversarial contact, including a use of force incident.
McGee said that he believes this program will increase the transparency, equity
and safety for members of the public and Lynn police officers.
Residents can listen and submit their questions live to the upcoming town hall event by clicking on the following link: https://video.teleforumonline.com/video/streaming.php?client=20106 or by calling 877-229-8493 and entering the code: 120106.
