Pistol-Cam Debut

[65595]

Looks like the Pistol-cam is entering field testing in Orange County, California (Sheriff's Office) and Newburgh, New York (City Police Department).

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`Pistol-Cam’ could make U.S. debut

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By John Doherty (http://javascript<b></b>:NewWindow(500,550,'/apps/pbcs.dll/personalia?ID=33',0))


Times Herald-Record
October 29, 2007
City of Newburgh -- 3:20 p.m. -- Anytime a Newburgh police officer draws his gun, the ensuing drama would be caught on a digital camera under a pilot program state and city officials are exploring.
Mayor Nick Valentine and Sen. William Larkin announced today that Newburgh could become the first police department in the country to equip officers with “Pistol-Cam”, a 5-ounce digital camera that attaches to the barrel of an officer’s handgun.
Larkin said the state Senate has already funded a $35,000 pilot training program, which would put the cameras on guns used by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office’s SWAT Team.
If that program is successful, said Larkin, Newburgh officers would receive the technology. That could happen as soon as next year, say officials.
The cameras, made by Legend Technologies, cost about $695 each. Larkin said he is hoping state funds will pay for Newburgh’s program.
The idea of cameras for Newburgh city police has caught on in recent months. Several incidents, including a deadly shoot-out on Broadway last year that left one man dead, are driving the interest. Last week, Chief Eric Paolilli announced he was including money for shoulder-mounted mini-cameras for officers in next year’s department budget.
The pistol-mounted cameras would be in addition to that program, Valentine said."

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Beyond that mentioned in the article itself (5 ounces), a brief review of articles and a 1.5 ounce weight is stated in another press release; unless I missed something on the manufacturer's website, I did not see any officially listed weights for the Pistol-Cam to see how it would compare to other light and laser-sight systems already in use (Surefire, etc.). It looks like it attaches via a standard picatinny rail, so would be universal for all designated arms. Supposedly, there is a long-gun version. Although unless it is like the Israeli-use command and control equipment, I am not sure what range (zoom) the long-gun camera would have or how it might effect overall tactical operations.

I also am not clear on how this camera would function under protracted situations where sidearms are drawn for extended periods of time. I am not sure that any officer or SWAT/CERT operator is going to be remembering to keep charged or "turn on" their camera after hours of standing around or maintaining "ready" position with the camera off.

Guess, we'll see what the testing results are like.

[LearninginMN]

as sully from third watch would say:


....crap......

[Scout1811]

You gotta be S**tt** me.

I see a whole new segment for John Bunnell on America's Wildest Police chases............. Shoulder mounted cameras?? What's next? I'm somehow reminded of that Will Smith movie Enemy of the State.

Why not just put a chip on the side of the weapon that triggers an NSA satellite to film the action each time a cop draws his gun??????

[Jedi]

I was in the radio shop awhile back getting something fixed on my car and one of the guys there showed me some shoulder mounted cameras in a magazine he was going through. They're basically an extension of the shoulder mike--like a button camera. Concept was that whenever the lights/siren come on in the car, it would start recording. Cool technology, no doubt, but I'm not all that excited about the concept of potentially having to wear one.

[JimSpoor]

Newburgh, NY is in Orange Co. NY. Since Larkin is a State Senator I'm betting that he was referring to the local boys.

[JCMC219]

In my opinion there is some good that can come from having such cameras mounted on an officer's weapon (i.e. evidence in favor of "good" shootings, training aids to other officers, keeping those few "maverick" gun slinging officers out there in line). My biggest concern, however, is that some officers with the cameras might be more reluctant to draw a weapon in cases where a "hard" Terry Stop may be necessary to prevent a situation from getting out of hand. There are situations in which an officer could articulate that drawing his/her weapon was a reasonable amount of force, given the circumstances, to make someone comply with a lawful order. Unfortunately, the general public is often uninformed about the law, and having such videos in the hands of the media may cause officers to hesitate in a way that puts them in danger.

Just my opinion.

[65595]

Newburgh, NY is in Orange Co. NY. Since Larkin is a State Senator I'm betting that he was referring to the local boys.

Thanks for the correction Jim. :gpost:

I have been following some of the news and "loose-reviews" from bloggers, apparently several of which misappropriated the wrong Orange County. ;)

Sorry to pass along bad info in that regard (I kept it to a minimum, vetting and then referencing only legit stuff -- or so I thought -- see motto below). :D

[dmclark]

Gee, I thought the idea of carrying a firearm was to protect the citizens and the officer involved. Since WHEN did we decide that we needed movies to do that?

I personally thing this idea totally sucks. No, REALLY SUCKS! If the goody two shoes want to ensure that Officer Jones aims/shoots at only REALLY bad guys, we are on a VERY SLIPPERY SLOPE.

WHO will decide if you 'really' were in fear of YOUR life? Think about that.

Will it be a professional LEO or a group of civilians with a bag of popcorn and an agenda??

[LearninginMN]

I agree 110% with DM, same thing for TASER cams, who's to say how you feel. That being said whats the opinon on squad cams, I'm against. I think hindsights 20/20 and in the moment when the s.... has hit the fan things look/sound/feel/act diffrent than 6 months later in an A/C cooled court room.

[FedRich]

I had a professor say that the next phase in law enforcement after COPS wasn't homeland security but will be an "Accountability" phase where every single action of the law enforcement officer will be scrutinized. Of course he had just retired and wished those of us on the job good luck.

Note that our brethren in the UK are getting helmet cams but more to document bandit vice officer behavior.

[DHSnomad]

WHO will decide if you 'really' were in fear of YOUR life? Think about that.


Wow, I must agree. This is not a good thing. The courtroom will be an instant replay booth! Every movement will be judged, this will not benifit officers at all. They are the ones fearing for thier lives!

[JimSpoor]

Although I will agree with the majority here that pistol-cams are a VERY bad idea, the same has always been said about cruiser dash cams too. I believe that the data supports the opposite conclusion however. It seems that dash cams have helped far more officers and prosecutors than have been harmed by "armchair quarterbacking." So even though this seems SO WRONG, I am willing to withold judgement for a while.

[FedRich]

Yeah Jim it cuts both ways, however I tend to agree with JCM that it may cause an officer to second think the use of deadly force putting that officer further behind the OODA loop. Like you I will wait and see what effect, positive or negative, this has on our profession once fully employed.

[Gipper]

I support car-cams, and can even see supporting head-mounted cams in the future. I cannot, however, support gun or Taser cams. The difference between the former and the latter is context. A car and head-cam will be activated at the commencement of an incident and will show most of what happens in the lead-up to any use of force. A Taser-cam or pistol cam will generally only catch the action in the immediate seconds before force is applied.

[LearninginMN]

was watching one of those wildest police video shows tonight, and one of the cops after a car almost took them out yell's "get that m'fer" well the show tried to cover it by saying "the officers are so excited after the near head on collision..." I just think plain and simple it makes the cops look HORRIBLE, and to someone on the outside it looks like they are taking a careless attitude to the events.