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View Full Version : Body cameras: Which one?



secondstoryguy
10-21-2014, 05:14 PM
Our department does not issue body cams to patrol officers. I'm considering purchasing one out of pocket. Which one should I look at?

John Hearne
10-22-2014, 10:02 AM
I've been running the Taser Axon and am generally happy with it. The only glaring problem with it is download speed - if you run hi res it takes a while to clear the device.

I'm a huge fan of a head mounted camera as opposed to a chest/body camera. The head sees what you do much better and if you draw a taser or pistol, you will block a large portion of the FOV of the camera.

RoyGBiv
10-22-2014, 10:08 AM
I've been running the Taser Axon
Not cheap, but less expensive than I thought....
http://www.taser.com/products/on-officer-video/axon-flex-on-officer-video

John Hearne
10-22-2014, 10:10 AM
Also, Digital Ally is supposed to be releasing their head mounted option at IACP later this month. I have an open request for a T&E unit as they have some neat features including integration with the in-car camera (activating one device activates the other). They have supposedly fixed the weak points of the Axon design including a smaller camera, wider FOV, and quicker download speed.

saints75
10-22-2014, 10:58 AM
Taser! My department have been wearing body cameras since 2009. We tried out several models over the years. This this summer went to the Taser Body Camera. It seemed like with the other camera companies you are paying for the software and you do not get good video quality. With the Taser Camera, if you get it in the offline mode, the software is free. If you get it in the online mode you pay for the software and the cloud storage. My department went to the offline mode. In the offline mode you can download the video straight into a file on a computer. You get good video quality, especially at night and free software if you get the camera in the offline mode. Plus they are easy to use. I would go with Taser hands down.

hufnagel
10-22-2014, 12:42 PM
been reading on the Tazer Axon cameras... wish us civvies could buy them as well. You're right they're not cheap but then the important things in life frequently aren't.

John Hearne
10-22-2014, 12:46 PM
A quality in-car camera runs $3500 and doesn't move around with you once you leave the car.

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_JD_
10-22-2014, 04:31 PM
One of our part time installers is a full time deputy, he uses a VIEVU LE3 and is pretty happy with it.

http://www.vievu.com/vievu-store/vievu-store-le3/

Looking forward to the Digital Ally product coming out. We've been pretty happy with their in-car products.

KeeFus
10-22-2014, 04:47 PM
One of our part time installers is a full time deputy, he uses a VIEVU LE3 and is pretty happy with it.

http://www.vievu.com/vievu-store/vievu-store-le3/

Looking forward to the Digital Ally product coming out. We've been pretty happy with their in-car products.

Us too. The one thing that I like about one of their body units is that it is advertised to interact with the in-car camera. If they had a version like the Axon Flex where I could just put them on my glasses I think it would be a hot item.

In regards to the Axon Flex, are the glasses provided or does the end user provide them?

czech6
10-23-2014, 11:20 AM
I have a Vievu, and it's ok. I'd much prefer something that has video buffering.

My department has dragged it's feet for years on buying cameras for all of patrol, and quite a few officers have their own cameras. We've had a few issues pop up.

-Any device you download and/or store video from your camera, can be subpoenaed. Don't download video to a computer that you use for personal/family business.
-Any video you take with your body camera is evidence. It needs to be logged, secured and stored according to your departments evidence handling and records retention policies. It should go without saying that you can't release video to the public. Any video you give to a coworker, needs to be signed for on a chain of custody form.

Chuck Haggard
10-23-2014, 11:54 AM
My job has gotten some really good use and service out of the Taser Axon system. Highly recommended.

Coyotesfan97
10-23-2014, 03:40 PM
My Dept is in the process of buying Taser Axons. They are issued to all the OITs when they graduate from the academy. The rest of patrol will get them as they come in. The cameras aren't too expensive it's the storage fees where Taser is racking it up.

Staff goes back and forth over whether the camera gets turned on for every contact or leaving it up to the Officer. I'm not sure what the cost of storing video footage from 400 patrol officers is per month but it'll be expensive!


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hufnagel
10-23-2014, 04:08 PM
Go local. I'm sure you could find an IT person in your area to set up a secure storage system.

Coyotesfan97
10-23-2014, 07:24 PM
Taser is local for us. I don't know the ins and outs of their system to know if that's an option.


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hufnagel
10-23-2014, 08:26 PM
Sorry. I meant go local for the video storage. From reading the manual you don't HAVE to use their EVIDENCE.com web site and storage system if you don't want to. You can run the individual cameras as well as the ETM (evidence transfer manager... a fancy docking station and automated data downloading device) in "OFFLINE" mode, whereby it stores all the video to some local machine. I can think of a couple grow-able setups (DROBO would be fantastic for this I think. 8 or 12 4TB HDDs in a self-healing array.) that would give you the ability to store all the video you'd want without paying monthly fees to do it.

One thing I don't like about the AXON is the buffer mode does NOT record audio until you hit the event button. I can easily see events where you aren't facing the direction of the initial reason for you hitting the event button, but you heard them. Some sound that might be captured could make a world of difference.

cclaxton
10-23-2014, 11:23 PM
For something a bit cheaper: http://www.pivothead.com/technology/originals
They also offer wired extended batteries.

Also, another option that allows you to use your own glasses: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/910281-REG/panasonic_hx_a100k_hx_a100_full_hd_wearable.html
Cody

Coyotesfan97
10-24-2014, 05:20 AM
Sorry I knew what you meant but I wasn't clear about the storage. I wasn't sure if there was the option to store the video locally. It's way above my pay grade for any decisions and the powers that be are going with Taser for the storage.

It was my understanding that the video looped and when you hit the record button it would start the video 30 seconds previously. That doesn't include audio?


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hufnagel
10-24-2014, 06:34 AM
From page 12 of the user manual (http://www.taser.com/images/support/downloads/product-resources/axon_body_product_manual.pdf)...


With the camera turned on, the AXON system is in the BUFFERING mode. When BUFFERING begins:
• The Operation LED on the controller will blink green.
• The camera will be capturing video but no audio, and will not record to permanent memory while in
BUFFERING mode.
• Buffered video duration is up to 30 seconds (00:00:30).
When you activate the EVENT mode, the buffered video (not audio) captured directly before the event, up to 30
seconds, will be saved and attached to the event in permanent memory. This feature is intended to capture the
video of an incident just before your activation of EVENT mode.


I'm assuming the $15/month EVIDENCE.com fee is per camera, possibly even per user (since it's possible to administratively share cameras.) That's gotta add up fast.

I'm also interested to keep up with anyone who's using this system, as my local PD hasn't gone to body cameras yet, but it appears it could be in the works for 2016 from my understanding. (we have some town "issues" that are being sorted out first, before any decisions like that are made, apparently.) Since I know a couple of people in the department, it'd be nice to have a good working knowledge base to potentially get some paying work in.

cclaxton
10-24-2014, 08:15 AM
The Taser Axon only has a video resolution of Standard Definition 640x480. Everything else I see is HD 1280x720 or even 1920x1080. It saves a bit on memory, but memory is cheap. Seems a bit behind the curve to me.
Cody

secondstoryguy
10-24-2014, 03:53 PM
Cclaxton,
That is actually what partly motivated my original question. I like the simplicity of the Taser cam but the tech seems old for what you pay.

MD7305
10-24-2014, 07:06 PM
We've been using the Scorpions http://m.galls.com/scorpion-micro-digital-video-camera for about 3 years now. Our agency's insurance company originally provided them but the PD has since been supplying them to all patrol division guys. It has proved to be a good camera although it lacks durability. I've gone through two and I'm very careful and particular with my gear. They're sensitive to rain and the mounting setup is lackluster in my opinion. I like the VIEVU2 mentioned above, it looks more durable.

Our L3 in-car system is about due an update and I know the department is wanting a system that ties in-car and BWC systems together for a passive, automatic upload to our server off the DVRs in the vehicle. As of now, we upload the video off the camera to our RMS system. So that video is uploaded to the respective report it pertains to. We have specific general orders concerning use of video and storage there of.

dewingrm
11-06-2014, 05:04 PM
I'm a little late to the game but whatever you do, do not get a Vidmic. It's a complete microphone camera unit. My department issues them and they have been a headache. Battery life is only 2 hours. My Vidmic is constantly running out of battery. For officers to turn on the video you have to push two buttons. The on button is on the side of the unit and it's tiny. I've missed recording a lot of fights because I couldn't turn my Vidmic on fast enough. The neighboring department has Axon's. They are very happy with them.

Rich
11-07-2014, 07:35 AM
I wish it was a law that all LEO had to use one.
Same with a video in the patrol car.

It has proved my case.