Technology can be our best friend or worst enemy. Public safety professions such as law enforcement, security, fire department, or paramedics often experience a love hate relationship with progressive technology. These professions are constantly under scrutiny due to cell phone cameras and cheap video editing software, often times pertinent information is left out to portray those who put their life on the line in the name of public safety in a negative light.
As you football fans know, a good offense in a good defense. Because of this I want to briefly review my experience wearing a compact body camera. Now, market for body cameras has greatly increased since I began wearing one in 2013 with prices ranging from $25-$400. I feel this piece of equipment is equally as important as anything else on your duty belt so I would recommend purchasing the highest quality you can afford. I purchased the Veho VCC-003-MUVI-PRO MUVI Micro Digital Camcorder for about $40 and $6 for an 8GB memory card, it included the camera, short USB cable, car charger, and body mount. Up to this point the camera has been completely reliable and has saved myself and coworkers on multiple occasions during allegations of misconduct. Unfortunately it is one of the things you face in this industry and having a point of view camera showing exactly what happened without prejudice is invaluable in my opinion.
With all good there is bad, and these cameras are no exception. My only complaints with this camera are the battery life and the mount system. I chose one of the smallest cameras available because I don't particularly enjoy all types of extra stuff dangling from my shirt, so I deal with the constant recharging rather then dealing with a camera the size of a cell phone. The mount does exactly what it is supposed to do, the only issues I have come across with the mount though is during a foot chase or hands on use of force I will often have to retrace my steps to find my body camera on the ground. I'm working on finding a way to secure the clip to my shirt a little better due to this.
All in all I would recommend a body camera of some kind without a doubt, the amount of times myself and others have been cleared of false accusations with the reporting party not being aware of the video footage shutting them down promptly.
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