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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: 4, Insightful) by opinionated_science on Monday March 13 2017, @01:07AM (1 child)

    by opinionated_science (4031) on Monday March 13 2017, @01:07AM (#478275)

    no footage, no pay, and more importantly, no legal coverage.

    Of course, perhaps there will be the odd failures, but we can have backups in the car (sign in or biometrics to use).

    If the camera by default had everything encrypted with a public key owned by another legal body (not executive or judicial but citizen run), then all footage would be secure and could be reviewed by many interested parties to decide what is made public.

    But this BS about cameras "not working" needs to stamped out.

    If you carry a gun for the govt , it is a small price to pay to ensure the best technology be used to ensure justice.

    If we can get seatbelts and texting while driving banned, this should be top of the list.

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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by fishybell on Monday March 13 2017, @01:44AM

    by fishybell (3156) on Monday March 13 2017, @01:44AM (#478284)

    Why are we banning seatbelts again?