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Mobile Video Technology and Law Enforcement A 2007 census of state and local agencies conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics revealed that 61 percent of local police departments were regularly using video camera systems in their patrol cars. Since that fgure was up seven percentage points from their 2003 census, we can assume that the 2012 Census will indicate continued expansion into mobile--video patrol technology by law enforcement agencies. According to Dave Poulin, Panasonic System Communications Company of North America's Director of Business Operations for Security and Evidence Capture, in-car video technology is becoming a standard tool in law enforcement. In fact, the increased adoption of video camera technologies is spilling over into other related felds, such as arson investigation and fre inspection. "We see this trend continuing, as other professionals recognize the advantages of both in-car and wearable video systems," Poulin said. The use of body-worn camera systems is on the rise as many law enforcement professionals view them as a valuable supplement to in-vehicle video cameras. Marketing Director for Data911 Mobile Computer Systems, Lee Warner, said both technologies serve a need. "In-vehicle video does not always see what the offcer sees, but does show the offcer's movements and a good overview of the scene from the vehicle. In contrast, the body-worn camera does a good job of showing the forward view of the offcer, but not a good scene view. In summary, they both complement each other." Greg Dyer, National Sales Manager for Digital Ally, pointed out that while in-car video systems have become widely accepted, officer response to body-worn systems has been extremely enthusiastic. "The popularity of cell phone videos that rarely capture all of the important events during an incident has left many offcers wanting the ability to record their own perspective, and the more views or angles you have of an incident, the better you can illustrate what actually happened," Dyer stated. "The combination of in-car and body-worn systems has been particularly desirable to departments that integrate all of the COBAN DATA911 www.lawandordermag.com 21