Police Video

[scoughty]

I was wondering if all the Traffic Services patrol cars are equipt with video cams?

Do the patrol cars that have been equipt, have them on at all times, or just when they feel it may be nessecary?

[mkchoi0801]

Makes sense that they'd have it running most of the times... otherwise it'd just be his word against mine if I decided to dispute certain violations.

[scoughty]

I was curious about that. I guess I should rephrase the question a bit.

When they are on patrol, lets say the highways, would the cams be running all the time, or would they turn them on only when stopping someone for what ever the reason?

[skidmark]

Originally Posted by mkchoi0801

otherwise it'd just be his word against mine if I decided to dispute certain violations.

One wonders how it was ever done before cameras. I never had one in my police vehicle.

[zulutango]

I worked with one of the first generation systems called VICS...video incident capture system...was way more trouble than it was worth. VHS tape recorder in the trunk, terrible microphone that required battery replacement in less than an hour's use ans useless quality at night. System kept breaking down...on the odd occasion when it actually worked right & you got a usable picture it settled several arguments...along with people immediately complying when you told them that they were being recorded. New systems are much better. Ours ran the entire time the car was running & shut off when the engine was turned off.