Prolouge: If you are thinking TL;DR, the few really important sentences are in bold.
First, my cynicism warns me this will decrease taser use...and increase firearm use. After all, everyone knows you don't bring a taser to a gunfight, and when was the last time you heard of a cop being attacked by a taser-wielding drug addict?
Second, I am not a police office or member of the "Justice System". I have a criminal record. The cops who arrested me did their job. I do disagree with cops who misuse what I consider overly broad powers. I am against legislation and policies that allow and even encourage a mentality in cops of "Everyone but us cops are just uncaught criminals". Laws and policies that make this a reality are repugnant to me, and to the very idea of any kind of democracy, especially a representative democracy.
Now, my proposal: I see some fairly easy solutions to a lot of the "problems" surrounding police body camera recording. I'm going to point out some fairly easy solutions, using current technology. I am not affiliated with any company I mention here, in any way that I know of, I'm simply going to use one of the top 5 results from a google search when I need some basic facts. I use camera and recorder interchangeably in this posting. If anyone wants to use these ideas, I'm giving them away for anyone to use as part of what I consider my civic duty. Of course, an acknowledgement would be nice. I am not going to attempt to patent any of these ideas, if I seem long-winded (TL;DR), I'm also trying to provide prior art so no one else can either. (civic duty, not duty to shareholders)
1. Power. I suggest resonant charging, in-car, and at selected locations (for cops on foot/bike patrol). I suggest resonant so that you can charge without removing the camera. http://www.bodycameras.com/ [bodycameras.com] says their standard camera in continuous mode has 4 hours battery life, 10 with extended power/charger pack. The recharge time for the built in battery is 3 hours on USB via computer, wall, or vehicle. The USB 2.0 standard for a desktop is to supply 5V at 500mA which is 2.5 Watts. Car patrols could have an in-car charger, and so they would only need the built-in battery and a resonant car charger, assuming these cops spend about half the time in the car and resonant charging can supply 2.5 watts of charging. Even less time in the car is needed if they leave the camera in the car and thus charging during lunch breaks. Less time yet if the camera and charger can handle a 5 or even 10 watts of charge. Foot officers could use the extended pack, or possibly even the built-in battery if enough charging locations are on their patrol route. Businesses on the route might even be willing to pay all or part of a chargers price in return for increased police presence at their location. Some planning is required here to insure enough chargers/charging time on every route. The camera MUST have an easily viewable and understandable charge indicator. Then it is the officers responsibility to either keep their camera charged, or immediately report in any failure of the camera/battery/charging system. If an officer can't handle that small added responsibility, I would question giving them the responsibility of carrying a firearm which requires much more in the way of maintenance. Bonuses: No need for the police station to have "charging docks", simply charging "shelves" for cameras not in use. No more corroded contacts, busted battery clips, broken dock contacts, and less warranty repairs for the manufacturer. The exact design might be as simple as a shelf system where each shelf holds x number of cameras. It might require some innovation or cooperation in the wireless charging field, such as dual wireless charging, with resonant in the field and inductive in a dock type shelf at the station (think pigeonhole desk with slighty larger holes).
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Prolouge: If you are thinking TL;DR, the few really important sentences are in bold.
First, my cynicism warns me this will decrease taser use...and increase firearm use. After all, everyone knows you don't bring a taser to a gunfight, and when was the last time you heard of a cop being attacked by a taser-wielding drug addict?
Second, I am not a police office or member of the "Justice System". I have a criminal record. The cops who arrested me did their job. I do disagree with cops who misuse what I consider overly broad powers. I am against legislation and policies that allow and even encourage a mentality in cops of "Everyone but us cops are just uncaught criminals". Laws and policies that make this a reality are repugnant to me, and to the very idea of any kind of democracy, especially a representative democracy.
Now, my proposal: I see some fairly easy solutions to a lot of the "problems" surrounding police body camera recording. I'm going to point out some fairly easy solutions, using current technology.
I am not affiliated with any company I mention here, in any way that I know of, I'm simply going to use one of the top 5 results from a google search when I need some basic facts. I use camera and recorder interchangeably in this posting.
If anyone wants to use these ideas, I'm giving them away for anyone to use as part of what I consider my civic duty. Of course, an acknowledgement would be nice. I am not going to attempt to patent any of these ideas, if I seem long-winded (TL;DR), I'm also trying to provide prior art so no one else can either. (civic duty, not duty to shareholders)
1. Power.
I suggest resonant charging, in-car, and at selected locations (for cops on foot/bike patrol).
I suggest resonant so that you can charge without removing the camera.
http://www.bodycameras.com/ [bodycameras.com] says their standard camera in continuous mode has 4 hours battery life, 10 with extended power/charger pack. The recharge time for the built in battery is 3 hours on USB via computer, wall, or vehicle. The USB 2.0 standard for a desktop is to supply 5V at 500mA which is 2.5 Watts.
Car patrols could have an in-car charger, and so they would only need the built-in battery and a resonant car charger, assuming these cops spend about half the time in the car and resonant charging can supply 2.5 watts of charging. Even less time in the car is needed if they leave the camera in the car and thus charging during lunch breaks. Less time yet if the camera and charger can handle a 5 or even 10 watts of charge. Foot officers could use the extended pack, or possibly even the built-in battery if enough charging locations are on their patrol route. Businesses on the route might even be willing to pay all or part of a chargers price in return for increased police presence at their location. Some planning is required here to insure enough chargers/charging time on every route.
The camera MUST have an easily viewable and understandable charge indicator.
Then it is the officers responsibility to either keep their camera charged, or immediately report in any failure of the camera/battery/charging system.
If an officer can't handle that small added responsibility, I would question giving them the responsibility of carrying a firearm which requires much more in the way of maintenance.
Bonuses: No need for the police station to have "charging docks", simply charging "shelves" for cameras not in use. No more corroded contacts, busted battery clips, broken dock contacts, and less warranty repairs for the manufacturer. The exact design might be as simple as a shelf system where each shelf holds x number of cameras. It might require some innovation or cooperation in the wireless charging field, such as dual wireless charging, with resonant in the field and inductive in a dock type shelf at the station (think pigeonhole desk with slighty larger holes).
2. Activation/Officer privacy.
This