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New Add-on Activates Body Cameras When Officers Unholster Their Weapons

posted by Fnord666 on Sunday March 12 2017, @11:06PM   Printer-friendly
from the shooting-and-shooting dept.

-- OriginalOwner_ writes:

TechDirt reports

Taser, the company, gets a lot of cop love because of its titular product, which is deployed (too) frequently to subdue arrestees. It probably doesn't get as much love for its body cameras, especially since it's already wired one line to sync footage with Taser deployment.

Its cameras are going to get even less love now. Taser's latest product looks to ensure no shooting goes unrecorded.

To ensure accountability during police encounters, Axon, Taser's police body camera division, has announced a small sensor for gun holsters that can detect when a gun is drawn and automatically activate all nearby cameras. The sensor, Signal Sidearm, is part of a suite of products aimed at reducing the possibility that officers will fail to or forget to switch on their cameras during encounters with the public.

This isn't a welcome development for cops who'd rather have every shooting/killing go unrecorded. And it's probably not going to be picked up by many departments as it's an aftermarket add-on that serves the singular purpose of accountability.

[...] Say what you will about Taser's taser, but its camera division (Axon) continues to make strides towards better law enforcement accountability. In addition to the gun-out, camera-on clip, Axon has also made body/dash cameras that begin recording when squad car doors are opened and/or the cruiser's lights are turned on.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 13 2017, @12:35AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 13 2017, @12:35AM (#478265)

    Constantly recording 5m of video, overwriting the oldest frames as it goes, and using the removal to trigger writing to real storage rather than overwriting the oldest part.

    That way you get footage of the 5m leading up to them drawing, and then the footage which this alone would capture.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Monday March 13 2017, @12:47AM

    by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Monday March 13 2017, @12:47AM (#478269) Journal

    The biggest problem isn't storage, it's batteries. If we get the promised improvements to lithium battery energy density, recording time could double. But the cops are still responsible for charging the equipment. Are they going to get reprimanded if the battery dies and the bodycam fails to capture a shooting incident? Ask the police union.

    --
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