Exploring Benefits of Body Worn Cameras

In this new post. We’ll look at commercial uses for body worn cameras that are making the workplace safer and more stable for retail workers and other front-line employees.

Body camera footage may also be used for teaching, theft prevention, and other purposes too.

If you’d like to:

• • Learn about what are body worn cameras and how you could benefit from such system

  • Purchase a brand new body-worn camera system

  • Find out how body camera works

Then you’ll love this new post.

Let’s just get started.

Body-worn cameras (BWCs) have grown in popularity during the last 10 years and are quickly becoming standard equipment in many police departments.

Body cams became popular for a variety of reasons, including increased internal accountability, more openness, simplifying investigations of public complaints, and officer safety training.

But right now a wide range of authorities, organizations, and corporations have recently expressed interest in how body-worn cameras may help their operations. These cameras, in an era of tiny, portable video technology, present the potential to boost transparency and improve safety in a variety of circumstances.

So, what is the purpose of body worn cameras?

The body worn cameras are small, portable devices that may be affixed to headgear or helmets or attached to uniform collars or lapels. The recording device’s base is connected, attached to the user’s clothing, and hidden in a pocket.

The batteries have a lifespan of around 12 hours. The devices can capture high-quality video even in low-light or completely dark environments, such as interior areas or at night.

Image source: https://www.businesswire.com/

Video footage from those cameras greatly helps to provide evidence and is of great use to resolve court cases as well.

Police body cameras are not only popular in the USA but are also gaining popularity across various other nations. Australia and Uruguay to the United Kingdom and South Africa are also using them.

When users activate their body-worn cameras, they record video and audio of individuals. Date and time stamps, as well as GPS locations, are also included in some.

Faces are frequently captured in the film, which might be studied by facial recognition technologies.

Some camera systems even allow officers to use a tablet to add metadata tags to footage while in the field.

Kocchi’s Bodyworn Camera with Software and GPS

Police body cams provide video and audio data that can be used to independently confirm incidents. One simple device may generate a powerful piece of evidence that shows the officer’s contacts with the public, keeping everyone accountable for their conduct.

Body cameras are becoming a useful tool for gathering evidence, helping to safeguard the public from police misbehavior while also protecting officers from false charges of abuse and helping to drop in police use of force too.

These cameras enable ongoing observation, requiring cops to be more cautious in their actions.

These little gadgets give law enforcement a window through which to create confidence and openness. Body cams assist to prevent police abuse since they can be readily accused of it.

Benefits of bodycams for police officers

• Increased public confidence in local and national policing

• A reduction in the number of complaints and allegations made against police officers

• Reduced criminal justice costs due to an increase in early guilty pleas

• De-escalation of anti-social behaviour

• A reduction in the number of assaults on police officers

• Ability to deploy BWV in areas not covered by other forms of CCTV

• Officer skill enhancement through the review of performance at incidents

• Reduction in officer time spent on paperwork

According to a recent Seattle Times story, many technology companies have been proving the benefits of body-worn cameras to a larger range of clients, including retail operators, in recent years.

The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) recently published their annual crime report, highlighting several worrying trends in retail crime. 72% of all retail workers have experienced verbal abuse whilst at work, 39% of staff have suffered an injury due to assault or other crime – a staggering total of 13,437 injuries.

One of the biggest challenges for retailers is preventing crime against their business and dealing with the aftermath when it does occur.

Employees challenging shop burglars, staff implementing age-restricted laws, and shop workers refusing to give alcohol to already inebriated clients are well-known causes for violence against staff.

Protecting vulnerable employees in these circumstances must be a top focus.

Reviewing video footage with team members may be beneficial for training purposes as well. New workers can learn how to present employees handled real-world events, and retraining can be done in the aftermath of an occurrence.

Customer-facing shop personnel may profit from the technology as well, as they will have safer encounters with the general public.

Front-line personnel who are attempting to enforce individuals wearing masks or social distancing within the business may confront a customer who does not want to do so, and those situations may develop.

The emphasis on staff safety has been a primary motivator in recent conversations more than anything else.

Body-worn cameras can also help safety and security organizations on various campuses.

Colleges and universities, as well as medical institutions and bigger business parks, may be housed on these campuses.

Security workers, as well as other staff members who are routinely present on the grounds, may be outfitted with the devices.

The Oxford Blue, for example, recently reported that porters and junior deans on the St. Catherine’s College campus will be outfitted with body cameras to aid with the enforcement of COVID-19 laws.

Previously, while seeking to disperse students, offenders refused to provide their names or any other identifying information.

Body-worn cameras would assist guards by collecting footage that might subsequently be used to identify individuals who were observed violating public health norms. The cameras would also protect against hostile student conduct, which had historically been a problem.

The fact that individuals use aggressive behavior to obstruct firefighters or aggravate the situation is a constant subject of indignation.

As a result, there is a greater need for security and protection.

Firefighters will instead use the footage to support training, and to develop fire prevention and safety activities run by the service.

Benefits of bodycams for firefighters

• De-escalation

• Decreasing and preventing conflict

• Providing evidence if the situation gets out of hand

• Providing evidence to support fire investigation

• Useful for training and evaluation purposes

Aside from promoting good behavior and de-escalating confrontations, wearing a bodycam as a firefighter provides a more full view of situations, offering situational awareness and potential evidence to help a fire investigation.

It is also a great tool for officers to assess their own performance and activities.

Bodycams are in high demand among firefighters since they improve both the safety of firefighters and the public and the learning experience.

Body-worn cameras help encourage open transparency in many different situations.

Public-facing personnel can often benefit from the ability to record tense interactions with customers and others. During the COVID-19 pandemic, and for future situations, these devices assist front-line workers and other essential service providers as they do the necessary work to keep our communities running smoothly every day.

Retail operators and other businesses can also use body-worn cameras to help promote employee training and theft prevention initiatives.

To find out how we can help you deploy body-worn cameras for your staff or build a custom body-worn camera system for your requirements, contact the experts at Kocchi’s today.

Article by: Eason 

Eason He

Kocchi’s product manager Eason brings his technical expertise to help explain vehicle safety products in an easy to understand fashion. Eason loves sharing his knowledge of the vehicle camera system and technology insights. He is the part of Kocchi’s team that knows ‘all the things’. He’s good at sharing his technical knowledge so you can benefit. BTW, he is an avid Lego fan!

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