Police body camera video can provide a full recording of any interaction an officer has with a member of the public, according to security experts.

Eight states have laws making police body cameras mandatory. Massachusetts isn’t one of them.

In fact, WBZ-TV’s I-Team found that less than half of Massachusetts law enforcement agencies have applied for state money to buy the cameras.

Police security experts believe body camera video provides a unique perspective of incidents.

“They paint a very sympathetic picture of the police action. You can really get a granular look at what that officer was being faced with at that particular point in time,” said WBZ News Security Analyst Ed Davis, a former Boston Police Commissioner. “Frankly, I think it helps police.”

A state grant program has given out $13.9 million to departments in Massachusetts to buy the equipment. However, the I-Team has learned many police departments still don’t have body cameras for their officers.

State records show since 2021, out of the 433 law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts, only 190 applied for the grant money.

“It is left up to the individual police department. That being said, the departments that have deployed body cameras have done so in the spirit of transparency and accountability and that’s what the public ultimately wants,” said Todd McGhee, a security expert and former Massachusetts State Trooper.

Recent incidents without police body cameras

Francis Gigliotti’s deadly struggle with Haverhill police last July was captured with bystander video and surveillance cameras, but there is no body camera video, because the department doesn’t have the cameras.

The medical examiner ruled Gigliotti’s death a homicide, leaving the district attorney to determine whether the actions of the officers were justified.

Last June, in North Andover, there were no cameras recording when police shot off-duty officer Kelsey Fitzimmons in her home. It happened when a fellow officer went to serve her with a court order to stay away from her fiancé and her newborn baby. North Andover police also do not wear body cameras.

Fitzsimmons was shot in the chest and is now facing criminal charges. The officer who shot her was alone when it happened. Prosecutors said Fitzsimmons reached for her gun.

“There’s no body camera. There’s no other officer up there. There’s three different stories, versions of what exactly was said,” Fitzsimmons’s attorney Tim Bradl said in court earlier this year.

Reasons for not having police body cameras

Massachusetts does not have a law requiring police to wear body cameras. Some departments said storing the video evidence can be expensive. But, the larger issue is that some police unions don’t want them.

“Cities that have buckled under the pressure from officers who don’t want cameras, or for other reasons, don’t put the cameras in place, are making a real mistake as far as the protection of their own employees,” Davis said.

The I-Team reached out to both Haverhill and North Andover about body cameras.

Haverhill’s mayor said the city is negotiating with the patrol officers union to get the cameras. North Andover’s police chief did not respond to our request for comment.  

Teacher morale in Massachusetts is among the lowest in the country, but could be improved by adding more support staff, offering greater flexibility around working hours, or higher pay, according to a group of educators and administrators at a panel hosted by The Boston Globe on Thursday.

A survey from Education Week, an education news outlet and co-sponsor of Thursday’s event, found that teacher morale in Massachusetts for the 2024-2025 school year was negative 10, on an index from negative 100 to positive 100. That’s below the national average of positive 18, and just four points ahead of New Hampshire, the state with the lowest teacher morale score, according to the survey.

“I was surprised by it, but at the same time, it feels very realistic,” said Serge Moniz, a teacher at Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School. “We have high student outcomes in Massachusetts. That comes at a cost, and unfortunately the cost is us.”

Panelists suggested reasons for the low score — from high cost of living to cold weather in Massachusetts — and offered ideas on boosting morale at the school and district level.

Demands on teachers’ time have been growing, especially since the pandemic, panelists said. In addition to managing classrooms, teachers are increasingly responsible for bus or hallway duty and juggling changes to their students’ lives.

“We’ve been in a place in our country where there are often national events or political climate or world pandemics that — in addition to the regular things that happen in the lives of students and families — create additional pressures for our students,” said Sujan Talukdar, principal of Underwood Elementary School in Newton.

Almi Abeyta, superintendent of Chelsea Public Schools, said recovering from COVID and dealing with the threat of ICE is a particular challenge in her district.

During the pandemic, Chelsea Public Schools reinstated a mask mandate in January 2023, after previously lifting its mandate, and the district was “hit so hard,” Abeyta said. More recently, immigration crackdowns have partially contributed to a decline in enrollment for the district.

“The everyday presence of ICE — we feel it, I feel it, my parents feel it, my students feel it,” Abeyta said.

Teaching in one of the most expensive states in the country can be especially draining, panelists said.

Luisa Sparrow, a special education teacher at Oliver Hazard Perry School, said when she taught in Texas, her salary was lower than in Massachusetts, but her cost of living was “way, way” lower. To afford Massachusetts, and sending her two young children to day care, Sparrow lives far from her school, commuting almost three hours round-trip each day.

While teaching cannot offer hybrid work like many employers post-COVID, Sparrow said more flexibility to leave school when her students do, so she could pick up her own children from day care earlier, would be helpful.

“Historically, teaching was viewed as a very flexible job, and now, and I think this is a little bit of a shift since COVID … teaching is not very flexible,” Sparrow said. “My child is the last kid at day care pickup every single day.”

Moniz, who is also co-president of his school’s teachers union, said paid parental leave was a major part of bargaining for the last contract renegotiations and an important part of teacher morale.

“We have to be able to prioritize our own babies, too,” Moniz said.

Superintendent stability and having adequate support staff can also increase morale and attract young people to teaching, panelists said.

Sparrow, who has taught in Boston Public Schools for nine years, said she’s worked under four superintendents and four principals.

“Once you have enough time to sort of get your sea legs with maybe a certain direction, then something different comes along, and having to adjust to that can be tricky,” she said.

Para-professionals, who help with classroom management, special education support, or bilingual instruction, can alleviate some of the extra stress on teachers. Having adequate substitute coverage can also allow teachers to take time for mentorship or professional development opportunities, said Talukdar, the principal from Newton.

“I have an amazing paraprofessional,” Sparrow said. “I could not do my job without her.”

Abeyta said her district is working on a pipeline for paraprofessionals to become teachers, and teachers to become administrators, which helps to promote teacher retention.

“I think that is so important — investing in the people that are sitting in front of us,” she said.

Katie Muchnick can be reached at katie.muchnick@globe.com.