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.