4 ms·

Bodycams should be recording continuously, it shouldn't be possible to turn them off. The power button should simply signal that something was sensitive and sh

Bodycams should be recording continuously, it shouldn't be possible to turn them off. The power button should simply signal that something was sensitive and shouldn't be included in a records request.

jcrawfordor 3y ago
Unfortunately a common practical complaint about body cameras right now is battery life. Police shifts are typically 12 hours and may go over several hours routinely in major cities. It's not necessarily an unsolvable problem but the options on the market right now don't make it that long without being in standby for much of it. A lot of departments issue each officer two cameras to mitigate the problem but that creates its own problems around keeping both regularly uploaded.
- nerpderp82 3y ago
  Technology has progressed enough that these issues are solvable with off the shelf engineering. The metadata and one frame per second should be streamed over 5G, the units themselves should sync over 5g and wifi. But the fact that it was recorded at a place and a time should be logged in a system in realtime.
  - jcrawfordor 3y ago
    These capabilities just aren't available for purchase right now in a form that's practical for police departments to adopt. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it hasn't been built and marketed. No doubt part of this is because of the huge market dominance of Axon which is not a company I find very trustworthy, but it is the situation right now. Most of the commercially available on-body recorders are surprisingly bad. Axon seems to make the best, but it's a low bar. Do consider though that the environmental requirements for these devices are exceptional. Head-mounted cameras have pretty much disappeared, for example, because the cable that connected them to the recorder invariably failed after months of use. Recorders will be dropped more than once a day, and in some areas they will be wet much of the time. Difficult to make good devices that hold up for at least two years, which is usually the minimum purchasing requirement.
    - btilly 3y ago
      I think that they aren't available for purchase because there is no market of police departments who want to adopt them. If a police department is willing to buy the product, I'm sure that entrepreneurs can be found who are willing to build it.
- figassis 3y ago
  How about replaceable and rechargeable batteries that can charge in their vehicles? They can keep their phones charged, cameras should not be an issue.

jcrawfordor 3y ago

Unfortunately a common practical complaint about body cameras right now is battery life. Police shifts are typically 12 hours and may go over several hours routinely in major cities. It's not necessarily an unsolvable problem but the options on the market right now don't make it that long without being in standby for much of it. A lot of departments issue each officer two cameras to mitigate the problem but that creates its own problems around keeping both regularly uploaded.

nerpderp82 3y ago
Technology has progressed enough that these issues are solvable with off the shelf engineering. The metadata and one frame per second should be streamed over 5G, the units themselves should sync over 5g and wifi. But the fact that it was recorded at a place and a time should be logged in a system in realtime.
- jcrawfordor 3y ago
  These capabilities just aren't available for purchase right now in a form that's practical for police departments to adopt. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it hasn't been built and marketed. No doubt part of this is because of the huge market dominance of Axon which is not a company I find very trustworthy, but it is the situation right now. Most of the commercially available on-body recorders are surprisingly bad. Axon seems to make the best, but it's a low bar. Do consider though that the environmental requirements for these devices are exceptional. Head-mounted cameras have pretty much disappeared, for example, because the cable that connected them to the recorder invariably failed after months of use. Recorders will be dropped more than once a day, and in some areas they will be wet much of the time. Difficult to make good devices that hold up for at least two years, which is usually the minimum purchasing requirement.
  - btilly 3y ago
    I think that they aren't available for purchase because there is no market of police departments who want to adopt them. If a police department is willing to buy the product, I'm sure that entrepreneurs can be found who are willing to build it.
figassis 3y ago
How about replaceable and rechargeable batteries that can charge in their vehicles? They can keep their phones charged, cameras should not be an issue.