Pistolcam coming to a PD near you

Gopher · Mar 7, 2008

What will they think of next. Not a tac light or a laser but a camera?

http://www.star-telegram.com/metro_news/story/516875.html

mac79912 · Mar 7, 2008

I hope the cameras help to prevent an officer from being wrongfully accused.IA treats cops like criminals and having that extra evidence might help the officer clear themselves of any wrong doing

Double Naught Spy · Mar 8, 2008

More information is usually better, but something that bulky that doesn't actually improve the usefulness or the functionality of the gun is something that I see as a liability to the successful deployment and potential use of that gun in a situation that is potentially or is a lethal force situation.

There are better options for cameras and related data gear that won't interfere with weapon use.

So if the camera is on the light rail, where does the light go?

At 6 ounces of muzzle end weight, recoil should be greatly diminished!

zembonez · Mar 8, 2008

I say just leave the in-car cameras and let properly trained Police officers do their job. Kissing the a$$ of every community group is ridiculous. "Outreach this" and "touchy feely that"... Our officers can't actually DO much of anything anymore. In-car cameras actually serve to protect the officer as well in many situations. Any officer with a brain 'knows" where to get out of camera range if needed. If you aren't doing anything wrong, you don't have anything to worry about.

While we are on the subject:

ANYBODY that runs from the Police in a vehicle should be shot. Putting the rest of us in danger because you can't fit into society is unacceptable to me.

PUNISH criminals. Serving 2 months of a 20 year sentence is not going to rehabilitate anybody. Violent criminal after violent criminal gets released from TDC over and over until they finally kill somebody... Don't believe me? Go look at the death row statistics and see how many times each offender was jailed and released early... If you sentence them to 20 years - make 'em serve 20 years.

If you want to bring up the cost of doing this... how about taking the large percentage of people in jail for minor drug and non violent offenses and trying to get them back into the system?

OK... Rant over.

Texas1911 · Mar 8, 2008

Just more crap for our LEO's to deal with. Those guys are going to need a harness to hold up their belt with all the crap they have to carry on it.

What's next, you have to have a free defense lawyer riding in the car in case the LEO does something a bit off-color?

I don't even think it will prevent accusations against officers. The action before the gun is drawn is what causes the gun to be drawn. In the event of an immediate defense (ie. perp pulls a gun) you aren't going to get video of that. Only of the gun being drawn and fired on the perp.

murfdog · Mar 8, 2008

mac79912 said:
I hope the cameras help to prevent an officer from being wrongfully accused.IA treats cops like criminals and having that extra evidence might help the officer clear themselves of any wrong doing

+1 it's sad when cops get treated worse than the bad guy.

carney · Mar 8, 2008

The biggest problem with things like this is the added weight and cost. Officers are already weighed down with all kinds of gear as it is, and everyone knows that most police departments don't like to spend money and these will not be cheap.