The Hermiston Police Department has a new tool in its arsenal that automatically turns on body-worn cameras whenever an officer’s weapon is pulled from its holster.
Cpt. Scott Clark said the HPD has added the Signal Sidearm, a device that is mounted to an officer’s duty hoster and is integrated to work with the department’s body-worn cameras. The device is a sensor that detects when an officer’s weapon is drawn from the holster and sends a wireless signal to all nearby HPD cameras (approximately 30 feet), alerting those cameras to automatically start recording.
“As you can imagine, with the countless videos of police encounters going viral almost immediately after an incident, this technology most certainly will be an invaluable investment for our agency, the city, and the community,” Clark said. “Officers will be able to focus on dealing with that high-stress situation without having to worry about manually activating their body-worn cameras. This will also capture those initial and often critical elements of an intense moment, which are generally not captured through outside sources; allowing for a much more complete account of the event and leaving little room for dispute.”
Check out this video link to see more about this technology.
