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Cost limits use
Older dash cams have cost some law-enforcement agencies as much as $7,000, but newer technology has allowed manufacturers to fashion smaller, less expensive models priced from $2,000 to $5,000 — still a hefty cost for many cash-strapped agencies.
A $50.00 camera from China will not cut it in a court of law.Any 14 year old kid can alter a video.The true police cameras record in a digital format that cannot be tampered with.
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My dash cam experience is a little dated now as I was doing the research and budgeting for that several years back.They were expensive and we were only budgeting them for the traffic cars due to the expense. Security was important and the units were secured in steel cases securely mounted to the vehicle. They required a key to access. This was to prevent tampering by suspects. In some cases they are made tamper proof from the officers as well and can only be accessed at the end of the shift. Normally the camera turns on automatically when the emergency lights are activated. There were a number of other law enforcement specific specifications. I'm sure costs have come down but Obie is correct in that the inexpensive model is not sufficient.
kalakoa is off base. It is a cost issue, plus the systems designed for police are made to specifically fit standard cop cars, of which there are probably only about 5. I know it was an issue for us when the Dept. changed from the Crown Vic to the Impala. The old ones wouldn't fit the new cars. This actually resulted in some non traffic rookie deputies getting the cameras as they generally got the hand me down wore out cars. We didn't hot seat. A car was assigned to each deputy.
While in some cases the videos have bitten the officers, in the vast majority of cases they prove that allegations made against the officer are false. Of course it's only the ones showing the officer in a bad light that gets the publicity. There is currently a YouTube of a Citrus County Fla deputy screwing up on his dash cam. It's a 2009 incident that's just now going viral. I guarantee he wishes that video wasn't around. Dumb ass!
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
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EightFingers,
quote:
Can you put some of your "footage" on your blog so I can see how good the camera is?
Not on my blog, but if you go to
this site you'll see a couple of clips I've taken and a snapshot at the full resolution of the camera. The clips are not long but are large. full.jpg is a snapshot taken from a clip at full resolution so you can get an idea of the image quality. smallcam.mp4 is boring but at the highest resolution I could produce with my laptop but not quite as high as the original video and d3.wmv is a clip taken earlier today at about a third of the camera's resolution. Nice driving in that one - a very thoughtful lane change followed by some skillful off-road driving (I removed the sitting at the lights for a minute bit!).
Obie and especially Oink, thank you, I appreciate your info.
Tom
http://apacificview.blogspot.com/
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It actually doesn't take bad video. The Toy P.U. in the smaller video is worthy of a driving award.
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
Posts: 6,214
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Joined: Feb 2006
If the dash cams actually do prove to the officers benefit most of the time, and the fact that our county paid "almost twice as much as vehicles obtained by other police departments" for the marked county police vehicles we did order & receive, I honestly do not understand why the county did not get the dash cams in the package....or what they got that is sooo much better when they paid almost twice the what other police depts pay for their marked vehicles...
Kinda do think they could have sprung for the dash cam since it doesn't seem like budget cuts were the issue on the order ...
Even at a couple of thousand, I would think that the added evidence ability for a car would make it a valuable tool for the officer owned cars...again, amortized over the life of the vehicle, not really a big amount of $$$$
Seeing how some officers do seem to choose upgrade option packages for the cars they drive... the dash cam seems to be one they would want to have....
Of course, maybe they do fear getting caught doing something they are not supposed to do...but that would be more of a training issue....
Added: Hey, you even included a parts car for ours in your dash cam, thanks!
Month later added:
Tom, until you posted this thread I didn't have a clue about the rise in dashcams in Russia... thanks to those dashcams, I have been able to follow a meteorite as it screams across the sky (the only videos I have found of this were the dashcam videos - who woulda known the reason why there were these dashcam videos! (and I do esp. like the double tie- in to TomK!)
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Yeah, aren't those videos amazing? Events like that Russian meteor happen more often than you'd think but most of the time they occur over unpopulated regions so we don't get to know about them. I'm pretty glad I wasn't there, must have been scary as hell.
Tom
http://apacificview.blogspot.com/
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I saw a meteor once, in a remote location. It was quite big (judging by the effect) but no mention in the media.
I figured it can't be too uncommon an event.
Thanks for your dashcam videos, I have to get me one of those cameras!
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Paul - just being pedantic, but if you've ever seen a shooting star you've seen a meteor. What I think you're describing is something more, a fireball or bolide. Neither are uncommon but on the other hand aren't seen by most people. I'd be interested in a description - might even be able to tell you what you saw!
Incidentally, I suspect the dash cam I bought is not what I thought it was - seems it was made by some other company. This seems to be a common problem with dash cams. Built in China and sent to Russia. On the other hand it works very well and have no major complaints. One or two of the software options don't work as advertised (which is why I don't think it's from the original manufacturer) but the image quality is good and have got used to having it on the windshield. There may be better options out there if you're still interested in a dash cam but this seems to do the job I wanted.
Just wish I could capture an event like that meteor!
Tom
http://apacificview.blogspot.com/
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Shooting stars aren't meteors! They're stars! No, just kidding - yes, I know they're meteors too, but this was a big one.
Actually it was probably a meteorite. It was a long time ago so I may have some of the details wrong but what I remember is seeing something bright in the night sky, not unlike a plane (can't remember for sure if it left a trail) which then disappeared behind a hill and then there was a big flash - like in those videos from Russia - but obscured by the hill. I was in a car so I can't be sure if there was any sound, and I didn't feel a shock wave. I have no idea how far away it was. I first thought maybe it was a plane crash but as I said - no mention of it anywhere. I think in that case a meteor is the most likely explanation. Feel free to set me straight!
What would cause the big flash, as on the video? Surely that's not when it hits the ground?
I learned something from this Russia story - stay away from the window if you see a fireball!
I hope dash cams become standard in cars, looking forward to lots more cool videos.
I saw one like that in SoCal years back ... It really was like a movie and seemed like it was 'just' overhead. It did not blow up but was amazing.
So speaking of seeing stuff Tom ... No video of your hood rising up and falling a foot or so as you pull out your driveway ?
aloha,
pog
