Next Police Weapon Is the Cloud
February 21, 2012
Cloud computing is becoming popular in business and industry because it can cut costs and simplify information technology maintenance. There is no reason law enforcement agencies couldn’t benefit too, says Taser International, the company that makes the nonlethal electric-shock guns.
Quentin Hardy reports that the company is selling small video cameras that attach to the glasses, collar or shoulder of a peace officer in order to record his actions in the field. The real innovation though is in how Taser proposes law enforcement agencies manage the videos as evidence…
By holding the video evidence on remote servers, Taser hopes to help law enforcement agencies achieve the cost savings that cloud computing has provided for business and industry, Mr. Hardy writes. The cloud product does not require an information technology professional on the police department’s payroll. It cuts down on losses from poor storage of disks or tape, loss or theft of evidence or even evidence-tampering.
In Taser’s cloud evidence system, which resides on Amazon.com’s cloud storage service, the videos can be tagged and labeled for record-keeping. The software has editing capabilities to protect the identities of some people captured on the video, like victims of child sex crimes or undercover officers. The video cannot be deleted while in the camera, though an officer can choose when to turn the camera on and off.