BEACON RECORD The Village
Mount Sinai • Miller Place • Sound Beach • rocky Point • ShorehaM • Wading river • leiSure country July 2, 2015
volume 30, no. 49
$1.00
‘Made in America’
also: golden gatsby highlights, ‘artie Techie’ show in Huntington, ‘Cinderella’s glass Slipper’ at the SCPa
Page B1
The Wedge rocks out Rain didn’t stop Heritage Trust’s SummerFest
Page a14
Matz makes history
Ward Melville High School graduate hits mound for first time with Mets
BaCk CoveR
Let’s hear it for the grads!
Photo by Rachel Siford
hundreds of seniors said goodbye to high school and hello to a new chapter of their lives over this past weekend. above, a rocky Point student’s decorated mortarboard. See the graduates’ names and more photos on pages A7–A13.
SCPD seeks federal funding for body cams By victoria eSPinoza
While the Suffolk County Police Department has applied for federal funding to embed body cameras into its force, officials recognized that there is a long way to go in terms of establishing protocol and before officers start donning the devices. In May, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a $20 million Body-Worn Camera Pilot Partnership Program, with $17 million going toward competitive grants to purchase the cameras, $2 million for training and technical assistance, and $1 million for the development of evalu-
ation tools to study the best practices. The pilot is part of President Barack Obama’s (D) proposal to invest $75 million over three years to purchase 50,000 body cameras for law enforcement agencies. The program’s launch follows a series of high profile incidents, including the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., Eric Garner in Staten Island and Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Md., which raised questions of alleged police brutality. “Body cameras and new technology will not be going away, and if it benefits the ofCaMeRaS continued on page a14
File photo
the Suffolk county Police department is seeking federal funds to purchase body cameras.