An Extra Eye Focuses on Cops and Suspects

A couple of years ago, after I'd immersed myself in the Corey Maye travesty for a bit, I made the case for SWAT teams equipping their members with helmet-mounted video cameras. The footage would show, almost always beyond any reasonable doubt, whether a shooting or other violence that could occur during a raid was justified, no matter which side initiated it. Video and audio taken automatically at the scene, of the entire police operation, would shield the innocent and inculpate the guilty, whether they're suspects or officers.

I just learned of a complementary product that I hope will be standard police equipment in a few short years, and not just for SWAT teams. It's a pistolcam —€” a small camera designed to be affixed to the barrel of an officer's service gun.

PistolCam, with its patented Auto-On technology, will automatically provide video/audio documentation of a perpetrator'€™s hostile actions. Using state of the art MPEG4 digital imaging technology, PistolCam will record up to 60 minutes of VGA digital video and sound at a full 30 frames per second.

The benefits to police departments are plenty seductive:

No longer will police officers be at the mercy of fallible and all too often hostile eyewitness testimony. ... Mini USB port provides instant downloads, allowing for distribution of video/photo documentation to aid in apprehension of fleeing suspects. Security software aids in evidence chain documentation. ... Whether providing superior situational awareness with the integrated ultra bright illuminator, superior targeting with the on-board laser sighting system, or liability protection from baseless litigation, PistolCam will provide the latest in crime-fighting technology.

Just as important is the benefit to civilians: much-improved law-enforcement accountability, meaning fewer thin-blue-line perjuries; and fewer cops going around like power-mad frat boys, acting out with impunity.

I can think of more than a few instances where a PistolCam would've prevented deaths, or would've at least made it clear which side was the culpable aggressor in a deadly firefight.

Police departments have been enjoying some pretty nice windfalls of late, what with loosely written asset-forfeiture laws leading to (often questionable) property seizures; and with the Department of Homeland Security doling out fortunes for new law-enforcement equipment. SWAT teams are now habitually getting outfitted with Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns, flashbang grenades, ballistic shields, and other fancy gear, up to and including grenade launchers and military tanks.

By comparison, finding money for helmet cams and pistol cams ought to be a cinch.

The police department of Newburgh, NY was the first to bite the bullet, so to speak. More will follow.

Pistolcams, shoulder cams, helmet cams, dashboard cams —€” I say, bring 'em on. I'm no fan of the surveillance society, but this particular aspect of it (while not without downsides) looks a lot more like a blessing than a curse.

Comments

[Martin Owens]

Ironically, this increasing militarization of the police will remove a frequently used gun-control argument- that such and such a gun is "disproportionate" or unnecessary. When every crossing guard and meter maid has their own armored car and helicopter, some will surely fall into the hands of criminals. (This is made even more likely by the fact that our dear government is criminalizing everything you can think of anyway.) The fact that our police departments have set such things loose in the society will mean citizens deserve to own effective counters to them.
(Always wanted my own Tiger tank, you know.)

[Michael Chaney]

I have little belief that this will catch on without legislation behind it. We're still dealing with dirty cops arresting people for filming them, those folks probably won't be too excited about being filmed even more.

[Paul]

I prefer the helmet cam. It will tend to face the same way the officer is looking. The pistol cam will get too much of the floor, and will be useless once holstered. We need video before, during and after the event. Not just the instant the guns go off.