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Select Board approves $240,000 federal grant for cameras and green-lights cruiser outfitting
Summary
The Farmington Select Board authorized the town to accept a $240,000 Bureau of Justice Assistance FY2026 discretionary grant for public-safety cameras and approved a vendor bid to outfit two police cruisers totaling $47,388.80; board members discussed data-access, oversight and privacy safeguards before the votes.
The Farmington Select Board voted July 14 to permit the town to accept a $240,000 discretionary grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance to fund strategically placed cameras and upgrades to police-facility access controls, and also approved a bid to outfit two police cruisers.
The grant presenter described the project as two parts: roughly $180,000 for cameras at town locations intended to help investigate serious incidents and monitor road conditions, and $60,000 to improve access controls at the police facility. He said the money was an earmarked federal appropriation secured through the congressional appropriations process and that the town still needed to complete a second-stage application with the federal department that will oversee the funds.
“Implementing in a way that's, you know, exercises some transparency, has good policy, good procedures, good documentation — that's really important to me,” the presenter said, signaling the administration’s intent to build civilian oversight and clear data-access rules into the project.
Nut graf: The board authorized the chief to accept the funds once federal steps are complete and approved procurement actions for two patrol vehicles. Members raised questions about privacy safeguards — including whether license-plate readers or facial-recognition capabilities would be used — and sought transparency on who will access footage.
Responding to questions about vendor selection for cruiser outfit, staff said they solicited three vendors but received a single responsive quote from Island Tech Services. The board approved the ITS bid to outfit two cruisers for $47,388.80, with members noting ITS’s on-call service and alignment with Sourcewell‑listed equipment as reasons for limited competition.
Board member motioned and seconded the grant authorization and the cruiser bid in separate votes; both were approved by voice vote. The town will finalize the federal application steps and return with implementation details and policy proposals for data access and civilian oversight.
