Dalton Had Them, Hinsdale Did Not: Body Camera Gap in Mass.

Today on the radio, Julia Sabourin from the Berkshire County District Attorney's office reported a question from Biagio Kauvil's mother, Jen. Jen asked why every police department does not have body cameras and why it is not the standard.

"In Massachusetts, not all police departments have body cameras," Sabourin said. "However, the Massachusetts State Police does."

This issue came up after the January 7, 2026, officer-involved shooting in Hinsdale. Officers responded to a mental health wellness check for 27-year-old Biagio Kauvil. During a short struggle in a bedroom, Kauvil's gun went off and hit two officers. Hinsdale Officer Jeffrey Spratt then fired his weapon.

Hinsdale Police Department did not have body cameras on scene that day. The clear video of those 43 seconds came from Dalton police officers who came to help. Dalton had body cameras in place.

Hinsdale had received a state grant in 2023 to buy body cameras. Even with the money, the small department had not fully put them into use by the time of the call.

Massachusetts has no state law that requires every police department to use body cameras. The choice is left to each town. The state has given nearly 13 million dollars in grants since 2022 to help departments buy cameras, storage, and training. Still, many smaller departments, especially in rural areas like Berkshire County, do not have them yet.

Some other states do require body cameras for all police departments. These include Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Carolina.

Body cameras cannot fix every problem in tough mental health calls. But they give an objective record of what happened. This helps officers, families, and the public understand fast-moving events. Many people in Berkshire County now wonder if body cameras should become the standard across all local police departments.