home Technology Electro-Optics Experts – police cars should be equipped with advanced cameras

Experts – police cars should be equipped with advanced cameras

Jan 5, 2015

This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)

While many drivers put dashboard cameras in their cars, the Israeli police is just in the basic phase of the process to equip its squad cars with cameras. Dashboard cameras have been installed in 15 traffic police cars as a pilot.

In the meantime the police forces in the world are rushing ahead with advanced systems after they have came to the conclusion that the cameras are a very efficient tools in the prevention of crime and even terror attacks.

According to a report in KTVU, new cameras in Palo Alto police cars capture 270 degree view. Each car is outfitted with five separate cameras and that offers about 270 degrees of coverage around the patrol car.

Each of the department’s 26 vehicles are now equipped with high definition cameras: one in the front, a camera on both sides of the car, one in the rear, and one camera in the back seat recording every move of a person in custody.

Officers say the added cameras give them an opportunity to better protect themselves as well as the public. The officer is able to view all of the cameras from a monitor in their car, which tracks where the officer is located. How fast they’re going, and when they pull someone over.

All the video is stored on a secured server for one year. The camera is constantly rolling buffering for 40 hours straight, that way if an officer needs a video clip they can go back and get it. The officer can start a recording by hitting this button on the microphone (see pic below). But if they forget it will also come on automatically. The recordings show when the officer turns on his lights and seconds later the microphone starts recording audio.

Although the officer could technically stop the recording the video is still buffering. If the officer decides to shut down the system all together that is also noted and is against company policy.

The department is also looking into body cameras that will work with the cars camera system which would be one more perspective of the officer’s view.