A bill introduced in late 2023 by Sen. Chris Barnett, which authorized a body camera program for the Guam Police Department and was signed into law by Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero in December of that year has finally made significant progress.

In September of last year, a bid was awarded to Motorola and GPD has acquired 59 body-worn cameras.

According to GPD Spokesperson Officer Berlyn Savella, these cameras were obtained through the small,rural and tribal grant, a federal grant program made possible through the efforts of grant writers and procurement team.

Barnett said he got commitment from GPD that the body camera program will start in less than a month and will begin with the central precinct.

“All they are waiting on is to do online training, the officers learn how to turn on and off and how to use it and as the officers get trained, they will deputize some of the higher rank to train the rest of the department,” said Barnett.

Barnett said it's great news because it helps with accountability and transparency. It also protects officers because it's a documented record of their interaction with the public.

“This is so integral going both ways, the transparency and accountability on the department side, they know once you put that uniform on, you are held to a higher standard,  and then we never hear about it again,” added Barnett. “On the flip side, if the public makes any allegations about officer misconduct, and now we can have a record that can be reviewed by officers and anyone investigating.”

Savella added they are optimistic about expanding the body-worn camera program and securing additional devices in the future to better serve the island community.