digital recorders

[Kegan30317]

I am about to spring for a digital pocket recorder. My two main concerns are (1) thin, so it will work well in a shirt pocket and (2), possibly an external mic that has its own on/off button. Specifically, I want to be able to turn it on/off without having to fumble in my pocket, look for buttons ect.

This second point seems to be the stumbling block. Any one have any suggestions or thoughts on this? Thx.

[CanineCop]

No ideas as to which model but... If you're going to go digital be sure you have a plan for preserving chain of custody on any recordings. I have stuck with tapes even though the're old fashion because I can pull the tape out and enter it into evidence instead of locking up my recorder or maybe downloading the audio clips onto a secure computer and then trying to convince the jury that it really is the recording...
I could be wrong, (anybody with case experience involving digital recorders please speak up) but I would and do stick to tape.
Stay Safe, John

[Kegan30317]

Good point. I am recording more to protect myself from OPS than making cases, but chain of custody issues are valid either way.

I wonder if I down load the recording to the computer & time stamp it, if that will give me any protection.

[OH Velez!]

make sure your partners, if u work with any, know about it. They frown upon it often, but more important, legally, in my state, to use a recorder, you must always use a recorder and not be selective in what calls you use them on. Otherwise, they will not be permissible in court.....who knows why, but i guess criminals have rights too. Same thing for us w/ cameras in the cruisers.....they need to be on at every stop and not just the one you want it on.....otherwise in court, it comes up as......why did u record this stop and not your last 2.....then they motion to have the evidence non-permissible

[DelC]

You may want to buy 4 or 5 of them, as every time you want to enter a recorded conversation into evidence, you will have to enter the whole device into evidence, as opposed to just a tape cassette that can be played back by the defense attorney prior to trial.

[sigy]

I currently use both a digital and tape cassette recorder on duty. I keep the digital in my pocket for cya purposes and use the tape cassete to record any interviews or such . If I use the digital for interviews, I have to transfer the recording over to my tape cassete recorder the old fashioned way. Put them next to each other and hit play/ record.

The digital recorder was one of the best purchases I've made so far. It's covered me on a bogus complaint and been used several times to record conversations by dirtbags in the back of my patrol car. It picks up conversations or interviews perfectly while sitting in my pocket and I'm fairly decent at hitting the record button without taking it out of my pocket. It also has the USB port so I can download any recording to my computer. For info, the digital is a Sony IC recorder icd-bp150 V-O-R.

Sigy:destroy:

[Kegan30317]

Thanks for the info sigy. It occurs to me that I could always download the digital recording to a CD. That would give me a undisturbed, uneditable copy of the recording. Just a thought.

[OH Velez!]

The best thing to do is talk with you local prosecuting authority or states attorneys office. They will gladly give you any guidelines that are related to the topic. For example, we can not submit digital photographs in as evidence, but some states can. We are not allowed to, because it is possible that digital images can be altered.....so we need to still use film or polariod

[J-Mann]

Make sure you have a way to secure the digital recorder in your pocket. I have yet to see a recorder that has a clip strong enough to withstand a sprint or a lot of motion. I would suggest getting one that you can safety pin inside your pocket. The olympus is one of the only ones I've found you can do this easily with.

J-Mann

[universible]

What about a small mini disc recorder? They are really small now, and not that expensive...and add to that, the discs are cheap!

Ted

[krellum]

Actually, mini-disc recorders are used in a lot of covert audio applications (at least they're replacing the old micro-cassette tapes in many places - at least for Feds). They're kind of a happy medium between analog (cassette) and digital, since digital seems to make many people hinky about validity. I think the Sony NT-2 is pretty small for a mini-disc recorder and there is a remote available. I don't think the device is all that user-friendly, but that's just my opinion.

With things moving more and more towards digital, I think it'll gain more acceptance in the LE arena. If, after discussing it with your AUSA/prosecutor, you're allowed to use digital, just download whatever you record ASAP (i.e. as soon as your shift is done, as soon as is practical, etc.) and write-protect the CD so that it can be viewed, but not altered. Then enter that first-recorded CD as your evidence.

k

[krellum]

My mistake - the Sony NT-2 IS a micro-cassette recorder...I was thinking of the Sony MZN-1 minidisc player/recorder.

k

[universible]

We use to use them for recording live shows when we'd gig...they were great. You can get some nice lapel mics and remotes for them...sound quality is very good...and they aren't that expensive. A friend had one that wasn't too intuitive, in use...but I thought the Sharp ones weren't bad. And $100 to $300 is a pretty good range...I guess that's a bit more than a standard mini tape recorder, but worth it, IMHO.

Ted

[sigy]

Kegan30317, I usually download my digital recordings to a CD. It works real well. The only problem is that if I want to turn it in as evidence, it needs to be on a cassette tape for now. Our evidence guys don't accept the CD's yet. Soon to change.

As far as securing them in your shirt pocket, I just drop it in there and close the flap. I've been in my fair share of tussles and foot chases and I've never had it even come close to popping out.

Sigy:destroy: