Few advances in technology have benefited law enforcement as much as video. It can confirm guilt, speed exoneration and often simply clarify what happened, and it’s become so accessible that in most communities it’s ubiquitous – on officers’ chests, in their cars, and in camera systems both municipal, such as LPRs, and private.
At times all that video may almost amount to too much of a good thing. Having multiple platforms and technologies to juggle, with different capabilities and policies and triggers and nuances, may distract officers on the front end, where their attention should be focused, and complicate the collection and effective use of data and evidence on the back end. Trying to 1) capture and 2) integrate essential video from all those sources to maximize situational awareness and build cases can be difficult, slow and susceptible to error.
That makes a good argument for integration. Using a single vendor that can provide multiple elements of a video collection and management system for law enforcement, ensure they all function together easily and seamlessly, and keep them simple for officers at all levels to operate makes police lives easier and communities safer.
For law enforcement, that’s the approach taken by Motorola Solutions.
“Our ecosystem and all of our products are created with seamless integrations for simplified operations in mind,” said Mitch Nowak, the company’s vice president for government video solutions. “Everything is intended to be user-friendly, and we try to help people work smarter, not harder. We want to make things less technically complicated in the day-to-day.”
That’s reflected in a pair of key products for law enforcement, the company’s V700 LTE body camera and M500 in-car video system. The easy integration they provide helps boost situational awareness, improve investigations, increase accountability and reveal key data insights.
For officers in the field, they can form the backbone of a comprehensive video evidence system.
What are the key components?
The V700 LTE body camera is a state-of-the-art device that provides easy real-time streaming and location reporting through a constant broadband connection. Advanced camera technology provides clear, detailed video even in low light, and multiple automated triggers can initiate recording and streaming of key moments, including via radio and holster sensors. A high-capacity, field-swappable battery powers long shifts, backed by 128 GB of secure, encrypted storage. The V700 can function independently or in concert with the M500, starting automatically when the in-car system does.
Record-After-the-Fact (RATF) is a novel feature that lets users retrieve video from events days after they happened, even when a recording wasn’t initiated. While even cameras with pre-event recording may miss an event if recording was never initiated, RATF works on a continuously recording loop whenever the camera is on. Authorized users can retrieve events by docking and connecting to their evidence management system, which can access the background footage, applying start and stop points, and extracting their desired segment. This extends the ability to reach back in time for evidence, and footage that’s never needed simply ages out of the system.
“If I’m starting my shift and don’t have any recordings on my camera,” noted Nowak, “I could ultimately go back almost 50 hours in time to pull specific footage.”
Resolution up to 1080p on both live and retrieved recordings helps ensure clear video that improves investigations and chances of convictions.
The M500 in-car video system combines multiple cameras for a comprehensive view of surroundings and maximal situational awareness. These include a front-facing M5F camera with video and panoramic low-light vision; an M5P cabin camera with infrared night vision and a high-fidelity microphone; an M5R rear camera with a 108-degree view designed to provide high quality images even through tinted back windows; a weatherproof M5E exterior camera; a high-resolution touchscreen M5D control panel; and an M500 Core processor. Up to eight V700s can also be connected. All M500 cameras capture 1080p video, and their reduced footprint enables unobstructed views. Footage is securely encrypted and protected with UPS backup. Operations are streamlined, with no action requiring more than three steps.
The high-quality video is supplemented by powerful AI capabilities that can analyze events, flag threats and identify targets in real time. Recording and analysis are simultaneous. LPR functions are integrated, with plates read from up to 40 feet away. In the vehicle, the human presence detection sensor triggers the cabin camera whenever the backseat is occupied.
Captured video is automatically tagged with time and location information, authenticating it for evidentiary purposes, and wirelessly uploaded to Motorola Solutions’ VideoManager EL platform. It can also be livestreamed through the CommandCentral Aware situational awareness platform. The M500 system itself has 128 GB of removable USB storage protected by key access.
Several key software programs support these operations. VideoManager EL manages the footage officers amass, providing a platform for device administration, automated video processing and secure evidence management. It adds features like AI-powered transcription, redaction and human presence detection to improve evidence handling.
CommandCentral Aware provides a unified real-time oversight of data, video and other communications. For commanders it provides situational awareness through live video streaming, location tracking and alerting, keeping them on top of evolving incidents.
CommandCentral Evidence is a cloud-based solution for managing digital evidence, centralizing the collection and storage of video, audio and images. It integrates with the V700 and M500 to secure chain of custody, facilitate redaction and support sharing throughout the judicial process.
All elements function as one
For the officer encountering a precarious situation, imagine all these elements functioning as one.
“Say an officer is out on patrol and pulls somebody over,” said Michael Tsao, a product manager for Motorola Solutions’ in-car video systems. “When he turns on his lights and siren, his M500 cameras and body camera all immediately start recording – he doesn’t have to do anything. Then when he leaves the car, the body camera will capture everything that happens, so we’ll have audio and video of the entire incident.
“Say an officer is out on patrol and pulls somebody over,” said Michael Tsao, a product manager for Motorola Solutions’ in-car video systems. “When he turns on his lights and siren, his M500 cameras and body camera all immediately start recording – he doesn’t have to do anything. Then when he leaves the car, the body camera will capture everything that happens, so we’ll have audio and video of the entire incident.”
Motorola Solutions
“To issue the ticket, he can then go back to the car and stop the M500 recording. We don’t automate that because we don’t know when the officer will want to stop. Our premise is to record as much as possible – we don’t want to lose any evidence. The officer can stop the recording with the simple push of a button, and the touchscreen will display a tag list for them to pick from. They’ll pick ‘traffic stop,’ and that’s pretty much everything the officer has to do. When they stop the M500, the body camera also stops, and the tag is shared. So all the work is done for them automatically and it’s very seamless.”
The video is then encrypted and uploaded as the officer returns to the station, and by the time he gets there, it’s typically ready for review, transcription, annotation and sharing.
“When you finalize and tag that incident, the incident number will already be assigned,” added Inna Innes, the company’s director of global public safety evidence solutions. “It all connects to the CAD and RMS automatically, and you get it added to the proper case right in your evidentiary workflow.”
The power of responsible artificial intelligence
While the V700 is a fully advanced, state-of-the-art bodycam option, Motorola Solutions also offers a newer concept that combines body-worn video and radio communications. The new SVX video remote speaker microphone combines the functions of body camera and RSM for use with the company’s APX NEXT and APX N70 radios.
Blending basic communications, video capture and AI capabilities in one device can dramatically streamline operations both in the field and afterward. Its video and audio and associated metadata are easily managed through the CommandCentral Digital Evidence Management System.
“That’s one of our latest solutions and a very exciting device for us – it’s the first of a kind,” said Innes. “It’s designed to our flagship radio, the APX NEXT, and brings in the Assist AI that runs across our core platforms. It’s our strategy to put the power of responsible artificial intelligence in the hands of every first responder in the U.S.”
Assist is built around user experience, adding an AI-assisted experience at key points where things become slow or prone to error. It can provide real-time 911 transcription and translation for telecommunicators, automate redaction and interpret camera content, radio traffic and other data to help build narratives.
“We design AI to maximize human strengths like judgment and reasoning, and we believe AI outputs should be traceable and transparent, whereby a user can check and override AI’s recommendations,” emphasized Innes. “What the AI provides is contextual and actionable information that’s personalized and tailored to your needs.”
‘A proactive approach to safety and security’
The potential benefits of all this automation and coordination – which extends to easy cloud sharing and integrations with third parties – are significant. By simplifying the collection, preservation, recall and analysis of essential video around both the officer and their vehicle, Motorola Solutions’ ecosystem helps provide fuller pictures of complex events, build stronger cases and improve everyone’s awareness – aggregating data that can even help identify patterns and opportunities for improvement before they become problems. It also promotes a transparency and respect for rights that citizens can feel good about supporting in their PD.
“There’s a direct public benefit because everything is audited right in the system – every step from inception on the device all the way through sharing with the judicial system,” said Innes. “You have comprehensive reports and audits that can be provided by the agency, so it really supports transparency for both agencies and the citizens they serve.”
The goal of the Motorola Solutions ecosystem is to “build and connect technologies to help protect people, property and places. [The company’s] solutions enable the collaboration between public safety agencies and enterprises that’s critical for a proactive approach to safety and security.”
For more, visit motorolasolutions.com/in-car and motorolasolutions.com/bwc.
