By Rachel Fretz, Corrections1 Editor
Another system on display at the TASER, Inc. booth this year was the TASER CAM. Originally launched in 2005, the camera system is an “accountability tool” that provides an audio-visual recording of every TASER deployment.
Similar in concept to the Controlled CDPM, the TASER CAM is integrated into a rechargeable TASER X26 power supply that replaces the standard DPM. The system can record approximately 90 minutes of audio and MPEG4 video and 10 frames per second – even in zero-light conditions. The TASER Cam uses an infrared port to record a range of about 30 feet in a completely dark environment.
In addition to the camera’s downloadable audio/video content, every TASER has a firing record behind the safety clip of the X26 that records time, date, temperature, battery condition and how long the subject was exposed to the TASER. TASER CAM footage can supplement these records in order to provide incident reports with the “big picture.”
This, TASER Corrections Sales Manager Paul Hughes said, allows accountability for both the officer and the offender out in the field, which especially critical in use-of-force investigations.
“Use-of-force investigations often boil down to ‘he said/she said,’” Hughes said. “TASER CAM footage is great because officer can simply attach this footage to his incident report, so if there is ever a review of the case, all of the information is right there and can be easily emailed.”
Currently, every officer with a Western state’s probation and parole division carries a TASER with a camera unit on it, and, according to Hughes, they have had zero complaint of excessive force.
“Once people see that there’s audio-visual there, the number of complaints goes down dramatically,” he said.
In fact, Hughes said, there are instances where people have filed excessive force complaints, but later dropped the case when they found out that audio/video was available.
“Guys coming up saying how pleased they are with the camera device because 9 times out of 10, this is going to corroborate what the officer said took place in the field,” Hughes said. “And the instances where it does not, that’s a matter of accountability for everybody.”
Think of it as one more tool officers can use to protect the truth.
