Will Viridian Weapon-Mounted Cameras Improve Police/Community Relations?
In recent years, as officer-involved shootings have dominated news headlines, more and more law-enforcement departments are implementing weapon-mounted cameras…which, as we’re learning, have advantages over both body and dash cams. Case in point: Recently, the Vernon, Texas police department had occasion to bless their foresight for installing Viridian FACT Duty Weapon-Mounted Cameras (WMC) on their officers’ guns. Footage from the WMCs proved that officers behaved appropriately when they drew their guns on a suspect who was attempting to run them down in a vehicle…which was good, because neither their body cams nor their dash cam captured the incident. Could this be the next step in improving police/community relations?
Well, as we know, part of the reason that officer-involved shootings can suddenly explode into civil unrest is a critical lack of information very early on after the incident. Being able to prove that law enforcement acted in good faith with the information available to them at the time (or, on the contrary, to address a critical failure in discipline) is vital to community relations. Here’s the problem that weapon-mounted cameras address: Body and dash cameras are not designed to capture officer-involved shootings. However, Viridian WMCs were designed specifically for this purpose, offering an unobstructed view of critical use-of-force events from the end of the firearm.
That Vernon, Texas criminal case to which I alluded earlier appears to have been the first time a Viridian FACT Duty WMC’s video has been used as evidence. Gun camera footage from the incident showed the suspect attempting to run over two officers approaching his vehicle. According to the report, neither officer had an opportunity to activate their body cameras, and their prowler’s dash camera had malfunctioned. The Viridian WMC, with its INSTANT-ON technology, began recording automatically when the officer’s weapon was drawn. This video was ultimately key to the prosecution’s case. (The full story is available here.)
“The Vernon Police Department’s deployment of the WMC is not only the first in the state of Texas, but this is the first reported case where footage from the device was used to convict a suspect,” said Viridian President and CEO Brian Hedeen. “Vernon’s deployment of the WMC and this recent case prove how valuable the gun cam is in providing a truly unique, unobstructed perspective—one that did not exist before it was in the field.”
All WMCs fit on existing standard-issue firearms and in multiple duty holster platforms, making it easy for implementation by any law enforcement agency. The cameras feature a recording time of over three hours to handle virtually any scenario. They also incorporate secured data access and are easily rechargeable. In addition to Vernon’s deployment, there are more than 50 other departments in Texas currently in various stages of testing and implementing the FACT Duty WMC. Nationally there are nearly 600 agencies looking at this new technology.
More information on FACT Duty WMCs can be found at ViridianWeaponTech.com/FACT-Duty-Learn-More.
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They will NOT do anything to solve community relations issues stemming from the media milking every officer involved shooting for money. Communities will continue to believe whatever they “feel” and will continue to say stupid things like “well, they didn’t need to kill him” and “they could have shot him in the leg/hand/arm”.
These cameras WILL keep good cops from being prosecuted after a good shoot. For that reason alone, they are “worth it”.
I am surprised about the negativity of a lot of the comments. Hatred and prejudice won’t be solved by a camera, but a camera will record the actions of a policeman and help him from going to prison wrongfully due to accusations from people who are prejudiced against him, Alternatively if a policeman acts improperly it will help preserve the public trust by putting the bad actor into jail. I am somewhat worried about the ramifications of reviewing a 10 second video on slow motion 1,000 times and judging the split second reaction of a person whose life is on the line based on all we know afterwards. But letting the truth out into the open I think will do better for our society.
Waste of time and money. Even if a full A&V crew was present at each and every officer involved shooting, a certain segment of the population would never accept anything that denies their cop hating ideology.
I agree with Heyman Dilligaf. People believe what they want to believe. How many times have you seen a wailing family member on TV proclaiming “my angel wouldn’t do something like that”, ignoring the overwhelming evidence to the contrary. These cameras aren’t a bad idea, just don’t expect them to solve a much deeper problem.
Having been a Police Officer who walked a beat, worked Patro, dedicated DWI, Undercover Narcotics, and Criminal Investigations, I have been in “officer shooting incidents”, and have been in front of reviews boards. As any Officer knows, you have mere seconds, if that long, to decide whether or not to pull your weapon in a shoot, don’t shoot, scenario. I always compared it to an MLB batter, and the amount of time he has to decide to swing, or not, from the time the ball leaves the pitchers finger tips, to the time it crosses home plate, which is approximately .0425 of a second; except if he makes the wrong decision, no one dies. Yet, review boards, and/or a Grand Jury has days, weeks, or months, to review the actions of the Officer.
I wish that we would have had weapon mounted video cameras on our weapons back then and, if I could afford one, I’d buy it for my EDC,
Could also help them correct bad habits while training.
Seen a few videos taken from Taser gun cams used on people and they are pretty clear proof of events leading up to them being shot with the tasers. Was actually funny to see their expressions later after denying any wrong doing then being shown the video……. changed their tune, and plea.
WMC’s may help in some instances. Unfortunately, organizations such as Black Lives Matter and the NAACP tend to not let the facts interfere with their intended narrative.