Casting no votes were Michael Tierney, D-Ward 2, and Michele Hirsch, D-Ward 9.
The department received the $1,149,000 block grant for the 2024-2025 fiscal year from the state Division of Criminal Justice Services Law Enforcement Technology Program.
Kingston Police Chief Egidio Tinti has said the funding will allow the city to purchase 40 to 50 additional surveillance cameras. The city currently has 29.
Tinti has said the cameras are used by dispatchers when they get calls to help with sending a patrol response to the best location. He also said that the cameras are also used by detectives to help investigate cases.
Tinti has said the cameras have been a big success in terms of helping the department close cases.
But when asked by lawmakers if the cameras help prevent crime, he admitted the department could not say for sure.
Tinti has said the department also plans to install 10 additional license plate readers, up from the current six. He added that the readers are generally placed on the highest traffic arteries leading in and out of the city.
The department is also hoping to upgrade its records management system from a 2017 system that is no longer being supported by its vendor, Tinti said previously.
Majority Leader Reynolds Scott-Childress said he was glad to pass anything to help the work of the city's police and fire departments.
Several members of the public in attendance decried the cameras during the public comment period over concerns about surveillance and privacy and what happens to the footage that is collected. They also questioned the camera's ability to prevent crime and some called for the money to be spent instead on traffic calming measures.
"How do we want to engage to make the community safer, there are alternate ways to spend the money to cops," Sam Goldberg said.
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