police body cams

[cam235]

Maybe a little off topic here, but I'm really curious about this... apparently police body cams, at least the ones in the city referenced below, even when nominally "off" have a continuous 30-second loop buffer so they can record whatever happened in the 30 seconds before they are activated. I didn't realize that.

Failure to turn on body cameras flouted policy

Question: is there any good reason not to auto-start the camera (if it isn't already running) when a weapon is discharged at close range? That would be a pretty easy signal to detect, I'm thinking. Am I the first person to think of that idea?

 

[gordo]

Good idea. Another idea would be to have the camera activated when the gun leaves the holster.

 

[Kawboy12R]

Both are good ideas, but not as good as having the things turned on all the time when worn. Those two ideas would definitely help if they weren't optional.

 

[cam235]

Surely 100% record is the best way, I guess some people say this might scare off witnesses. But surely if a weapon is fired- probably also just drawn- it seems to me pretty much always worth having a record of. I can understand how in a crisis situation there might be other things on an officer's mind. That is all the more reason for the camera to be fully automatic and no-touch.

 

[SyconsciousAu]

Surely 100% record is the best way,

Is it just me, or would that get very expensive very quickly in terms of storage? Hundreds of Cameras recording 24/7 at HD resolutions would create a lot of bytes to store. Also what happens when they have to go to the toilet? I don't know that people would be happy to know that the officer who walked into the toilet at the shopping centre captured all of them in HD whilst they were springing a leak.

Could be issues there.

 

[cam235]

Best way to preserve all possibly relevant data. Recorded by the camera doesn't mean transferred to the main database, or preserved for more than 72 hours or some short time.

Recorded certainly doesn't mean published online. If it's a police camera, that means the police are responsible for what is or is not published. Police body cams have been in use for several years now and I'm not aware of significant claims of inappropriately-recorded material. But there are significant claims of inappropriately NOT recorded incidents. Maybe there could be a "2-minute bathroom break" button, if it's an issue that some guy's back could be recorded when he's in a bathroom. Of course that button could also be used to conceal misconduct. Ultimately, if it's a choice between that and holding officers accountable for unexplained shooting deaths, I know which way I'd come down on the issue.

 

[mat200]

fyi -

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