Body Worn Cameras

Good Cameras Come to Sheriffs Who Wait

Feb. 16, 2015
By Emily Manzik

While fashion models are sporting the latest animal prints and athletes are flaunting cutting edge sneakers, police officers are sprucing up their uniforms with video recording technology.

Like with any other fashion trend, police forces across the country are trying to find the best brands and the best quality body cameras to use in the field.

"Society increasingly expects that dramatic events will be videotaped, says Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union. "Any officer whose camera for some reason does not capture a shooting or other dramatic contested encounter on video will increasingly be viewed with incredulity and suspicion."

The Guilford County sheriffs are very aware of this body-camera craze that is sweeping the nation, but they are not making any impulsive purchases.

"The body worn cameras were something we felt we needed," says Col. Randy Powers of the Guilford County Sheriff's Office. "The problem was which type."

The Competition

Since the Ferguson incident, top body camera manufacturers such as Taser International, Digital Ally and VieVu LLC. have seen major increases in sales.  

"The biggest problem we’ve had and the one thing that has come about since Ferguson is a lot of people had come into the manufacturing of it," says Col. Powers.

Three of the top body cameras in the field today vary 
from their prices down to their specific features.

According to government data firm Onvia reports, there were almost six times as many purchase orders issued for body worn cameras and related services in 2014 compared to 2013.

With this major spike in purchase orders, manufacturers must do their best to set themselves apart from the competition.

When asked how VieVu tailors their cameras to meet the needs of their buyers in terms of having night vision technology, Director of Sales Joe Pioli says, "Our cameras don’t have night vision or an incorporated flashlight. We don’t want the camera to see better than the human eye."

However, other manufacturers such as Wolfcom believe that night vision technology is an essential feature to have in their 3rd Eye police body camera. 

One company has already set itself apart from the rest providing cameras to officers in the Los Angelos, Cleveland and Tampa areas.

Taser Takeover

Taser has been producing stun guns and body cameras for law enforcement since 1993 and continues to dominate the industry today.

Col. Powers says him and his team have looked into the Taser cameras but were not pleased with what they saw. 

“The thing that we don’t like about Taser is you have to store the footage in your cloud," says Col. Powers. “We are looking for something that we can store ourselves."

Taser's video cameras are designed to be backed up on their own cloud-based server Evidence.com.

Despite Taser's popularity across the country, Guilford County does not think Taser body cameras will be a good fit for their sheriffs.

All Eyes on Sony

With Taser out of the running, Col. Powers says his department is looking at other potential manufacturers that have been knocking on their door. 

"Right now we are waiting for Sony to come out with theirs and see what they've got," says Col. Powers. "The thing we like about Sony is they came to sit down and talk to us. Sony took what we had to say and sort of built that."

A recent survey shows what people believe are the most 
essential features of police body cameras.

Certain features that the Guilford County officers are requesting are speedy download time from the camera to the server, the ability to download the footage from the cruiser and a camera that can be worn on an officer's cap or glasses. 

Sony Corp. has yet to come out with any body camera designed to assist law enforcement.

"I am probably going to be contacting them in the next couple of weeks to see where they are at," says Col. Powers. "We are just waiting for a couple more samples to come out and hopefully that won't be too long from now so we can make a purchase and get it going."

Paying the Price

All of these special features and custom designs don't come cheap. With key elements such as night vision technology, large memory storage and high-definition video resolution, these body worn cameras come with a price.

Guilford County is planning on purchasing about 350 cameras for their department. Each camera will cost around $800 to $900 which means the total purchase will cost roughly $315,000. 

Back in early December, President Barack Obama asked for $263 million in funding body worn cameras for law enforcement nationwide.

"When Obama came out and said that he was going to pay for half, we liked that a lot," says Col. Powers. 

However, if the White House does not hold up its end of the deal, Col. Powers says they will purchase less cameras than they planned for and use federal forfeiture money to do so.

Beyond the Lens

Looking past the glitz and glamour of the sleek camera design and the crystal clear video resolution, there lies the greater picture. It's not about finding the most popular camera in the market, it's about what these body cameras are going to do for criminal justice.

"I think it's pretty much going to help us all the way around," says Col. Powers. It helps defend the officer presuming that he has done right but it also shows if he has done wrong. It gives us definitive evidence."

This is why the sheriff's department is remaining patient until they find the perfect fit.

"We are very much on the leading edge of technology," says Col. Powers. "We haven’t been so with the body worn cameras but it's because we weren't really satisfied with what we saw out there. We want something that'll do the job, not something that’s just to say we got them."

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