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Thread: Buying Your Own Bodycam

  1. #11
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    Aug 2014
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    Northern Virginia
    I'm not LEO and do not know if this sort of thing applies in Law Enforcement, but be sure you understand your controlling govt authority's regulations regarding data retention. Falling afoul of that could put you at greater liability than not having the recordings.

    For example, in my company, we're only allowed to retain 2yrs of data unless we have a written exemption. This is checked by auditors yearly.

    Chris

  2. #12
    Sherman,

    I would not recommend doing that if your department does not have some kind of written guidance and policy that dictates the use. Whatever you record is discoverable and could be subject to FOIA requests.

    The Axon cameras are not cheap, and neither is the storage. I used a VieVu camera in the past (8-9 years ago) and did not care for it, though I’ve not used any of the newer versions.

  3. #13
    I’ll probably put my efforts into helping the Chief write a grant to get the entire department setup with the Axons and the data management system.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  4. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Sherman A. House DDS View Post
    I’ll probably put my efforts into helping the Chief write a grant to get the entire department setup with the Axons and the data management system.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    I think that's the smartest way to go.

  5. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Sherman A. House DDS View Post
    I’ll probably put my efforts into helping the Chief write a grant to get the entire department setup with the Axons and the data management system.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    That's a great idea. I try never to do any work related data storage on a personal machine or work from a personal PC. Having your laptop and internet records subpoenaed for discovery is a "thing" some places. Even if you've got the most vanilla and innocent data use ever known it's a significant invasion of privacy.

    I did see one personal use of a micro-cassette recorder save a guy some hassle once. Lady arrested for dui said she was "gonna tell the world", "you beat me up and f-d me." She then processed to bang her face on the Plexiglas cage, quite audibly on the tape and did in fact try to file those claims.
    -All views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect those of the author's employer-

  6. #16
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    Jun 2012
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    ABQ
    Heck, around here SWAT guys are getting phone records subpoenaed so someone can determine if they were screwing around on the 'net during their last DV refresher course. The more specialized your job, the less they figure you pay attention during the mandated biennial training.

    pat
    Last edited by UNM1136; 09-16-2018 at 07:23 PM.

  7. #17
    Member John Hearne's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Northern Mississippi
    I haven't tested every body cam out there. With that said, I have been impressed with the Axon (Taser) offerings and the ones from Watch Guard. I"ve had two generations of the Axon Flex (head mounted) cameras and they've held up well. The Watch Guard is the concrete block of the body camera world. They are big, thick, and bulky but they are BUILT.

    We ran Digital Ally for years but their latest in-car model sucked and their body cameras were fragile and had short lived batteries.

    The Axon Fleet (in-car) option wasn't available when we were buying. We ended up with Watch Guard for both in-car and body camera. The two systems integrate very nicely. When you start recording on one thevice, the other starts as well. Classifying a video on the in-car classifies it on the body camera. Outside of storage demands (inherent with hi rez video) there isn't much to object to.

    It' a minority opinion, but I really prefer a head mounted camera to a chest mounted camera. The head stabilizes the camera better and the head mounted camera give a better sense of what the officer might have seen.
    Last edited by John Hearne; 09-17-2018 at 06:28 AM.
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  8. #18
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    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Wisconsin for now
    Quote Originally Posted by John Hearne View Post

    It' a minority opinion, but I really prefer a head mounted camera to a chest mounted camera. The head stabilizes the camera better and the head mounted camera give a better sense of what the officer might have seen.
    We use the axon 2 body cameras now, but last year used the regular axon. I liked the head mount for the old camera for the view, but the headband irritated my ears after a few hours.

    With the axon 2 I use the collar mount. It’s pretty stable and shows more than I think a chest one would, especially if you’re using a 2 hand grip and have your handgun out. Seems like a lot of videos I’ve seen with what seem to be chest cameras, the view gets partially blocked by arms/hands/gun.
    Last edited by Vista461; 09-17-2018 at 02:04 PM.

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