“My Command Staff and I are working collaboratively with the union that represents Troopers and Sergeants on this important new capability,” she said.

“Body cameras offer the potential to bring a new level of officer safety, transparency, and accurate documentation to the tens of thousands of interactions our personnel have with the public every year,” Gilpin said in a statement.

Massachusetts State Police have begun a six-month body camera pilot program, with about 100 troopers testing devices from several vendors, Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, superintendent of the department, said Monday.

State Police officials first revealed plans to begin using body cameras last spring, following a series of scandals over falsified overtime records and the alteration of an arrest report for the daughter of a district court judge.


Governor Charlie Baker said then that he wanted the program in place by the end of 2018.

The pilot program is intended to ensure greater accountability for troopers’ interactions with the public, to enable troopers to more accurately document suspects’ actions, and to enhance troopers’ safety, State Police said.

Other reforms Gilpin has launched in the past 10 months, according to State Police, include the elimination of scandal-plagued Troop E, where many troopers filed for overtime shifts they hadn’t worked; staff increases in the Internal Affairs and Staff Inspections sections; and the installation of GPS devices in patrol cruisers.

State Police signed a memorandum of understanding last week with the State Police Association of Massachusetts, which pledged to support the pilot program.

“SPAM is committed to working in partnership with the Baker-Polito Administration in employing new technologies that may benefit the safety of SPAM’s members and the public that we protect,” Mark Lynch, president of the association, said in the statement. “SPAM supports the administration’s body-worn camera pilot program and looks forward to examining the perceived benefits and potential improvements with the use of these technologies,” Lynch continued.


Last summer Mayor Martin J. Walsh of Boston said the city would begin a full-scale police body camera program, following a yearlong pilot of the technology.

Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeremycfox.