Last month we talked about the proliferation of cameras facing officers throughout their day. Cameras are everywhere.
During academy classes, I used to teach the recruits to just do their job assuming that everything they do is being filmed and will appear on the evening news. I told them not to do anything that they wouldn't be willing to explain to their Mother. That usually got a laugh - albeit a wry, embarrassed one.
It kind of reminds me of a James Coburn line in the movie Maverick. Coburn plays the organizer of a big poker tournament that is to be held on a riverboat. In order to maintain security, Coburn hires the character played by James Garner, and Garner takes away everyone's guns. Of course, during the tournament, trouble ensues, and about a dozen different people produce hidden weapons. At one point Coburn yells at Garner, "I don't think much of your security; everybody's got a gun!"
The fact is, everybody's got a camera - and that's sometimes more dangerous. That being the case, we should have a camera, too.
The problem with the cameras we've been using in law enforcement is that they tend to be affixed to a stationary mount in our vehicle. While we wear a body microphone, if we wander out of the narrow viewing field of the camera - usually aimed out in front of the vehicle - our audio will be recorded, but our video won't. And, if we wander too far away from the vehicle, the audio is lost as well. There ought to be some way to get a recording of what we see, wherever we are.
Now there is. It's called AXON, and it's from TASER International.
A Wearable Solution
AXON stands for Autonomous eXtended On-officer Network. As stated, it's worn by the officer, and so it goes with her wherever she goes. But it's really more than a recorder; it's a tactical networkable computer.
The AXON is integrated into an officer's pre-existing communications gear. Most officers today wear a portable radio with a remote microphone on a coiled cord, typically clipped to a shirt epaulet. This microphone is replaced by a microphone that also has a cradle built into it for the AXON unit. When no AXON is in the cradle, the microphone functions as it normally would. Once an AXON unit is dropped into it, the AXON is integrated between the portable radio and an audio-video earpiece worn by the officer. In effect, the officer is wearing a video camera on his earpiece.
The audio and video are recorded in the AXON unit, and the camera captures whatever the officer turns his head toward. Additionally, the officer can remove the earpiece and extend it around corners or into attic spaces (all those places where you might not want to stick your head), while viewing the image on the AXON unit's built in screen. It's a great officer safety enhancement!
The high resolution video is DVD quality, and is recorded to electronic memory, which is downloadable in a secure format. Evidentiary credibility is preserved due to the use of a "hashing" system that prevents surreptitious editing. The unit captures color and infrared images, for use in lowlight. The AXON unit is waterproof, and is built to take the normal wear and tear of street policing. I had a change to handle one at the recent TASER Conference in Arizona, and it has a very solid, well-made feel. The rechargeable battery will last an entire shift.
The AXON system is actually intended to go beyond just the recording function. It's set up to be integrated into a department's reporting system in order to reduce some of the reporting requirements faced by today’s police personnel.
And here’s the top-secret part (shh!) - AXON uses a wireless system called TACOM, which stands for TASER Communications. Future TASER products will be TACOM compliant, and will be able to interact with AXON in certain ways, such as remote firing and reactivation, and other ways. Shh-h-h-h! That's inside info!
By the way, in case you're wondering about where to leave your AXON unit when you have to go to the Little Coppers' Room, there's a one-touch Privacy mode, so that you can temporary suspend audio and video recording.
AXON is gearing up for field testing right now, and should be available late this year or early next year. Cost is expected to be around $1,000.
Protect Truth
We're pretty used to seeing videos of officers splashed all over the news. The media loves to show us getting our picture taken, and they love to edit the video - due to a shortage of time; you know - so that only the juiciest parts get shown. Usually that means the parts that make it look like we did something we shouldn't have.
Sometimes that's true, we did do something wrong. But pretty frequently, there's a lot more to the story - stuff that the edited footage from a citizen's cell phone camera doesn't show. Those are the times that it would be great to have our own footage. Footage that shows what happened, from the officer's perspective, and including the events that lead up to the incident.
After all, remember that the U. S. Supreme Court, in Graham v. Connor, said that an officer's use of force must be judged from the perspective of the reasonable officer on the scene. What better way to show that than with a recording, taken from the officer's perspective?
Then we can truly say, "Everybody's got a camera!"
Stay safe, and wear your vest!
