BWC for civilian use

[wcd]

Anyone have any recommendations for one? Seems like important features may be recording time, durability and ease of use.
Not looking to break the bank just something that works.

 

[OneBadV8]

I assume Body Worn Camera

 

[Haven]

I've seen some people use GoPro cameras for Point of View recordings of drives in various cars, worn on a hat or chest rig.

 

[wcd]

I assume Body Worn Camera

That would be correct sometimes we acronym with out thinking about it.

 

[Gabriel]

I assume Body Worn Camera

That makes more sense.

My only experience is with whatever we are issued at work. They used to be Axon, but we've switched to Body Worn. The Body-Worn batteries don't even last a full shift.

The plus side is I started making MOLLE mounts for those specific camera remotes and all the PDs that have them up here like my mounts.

 

[rosejm]

Battery life is going to be your critical component.

Preferably something that records on a loop (similar to a dashcam) and allows for saving that loop + later footage. The time to power up & begin recording will be much longer than you expect, so having something that's always active seems important.

Unless you're looking for something that records 100% all the time. Then storage will be an equal factor.

 

[JCSR]

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[Knight Rider]

 

[BehindBlueI's]

What sort of scenario are you envisioning? Are we talking like armed security guard here or what?

 

[HoughMade]

What sort of scenario are you envisioning? Are we talking like armed security guard here or what?

That was going to be my question.

 

[wcd]

What sort of scenario are you envisioning? Are we talking like armed security guard here or what?

Personal Protection Order situation.

 

[JCSR]

Personal Protection Order situation.

Sounds like you may need a helmet too!

 

[wcd]

Sounds like you may need a helmet too!

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Was thinking something perhaps a bit more discrete. I do not think it would be considered fashionable.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Personal Protection Order situation.

Like a restraining order sort of thing? Why not just use your cell phone. A belt clip that lets it ride "open carry" and turn the video on. There's no actual BWC that's discrete and the features of a BWC are largely wasted for what you want. Cloud backup, tamper resistance, automatic "officer down" alerts, holster sensors, etc.

Or just become a Tik Tok influencer and have a camera man follow you around 24/7.

 

[wcd]

Like a restraining order sort of thing? Why not just use your cell phone. A belt clip that lets it ride "open carry" and turn the video on. There's no actual BWC that's discrete and the features of a BWC are largely wasted for what you want. Cloud backup, tamper resistance, automatic "officer down" alerts, holster sensors, etc.

Or just become a Tik Tok influencer and have a camera man follow you around 24/7.

Yes domestic situation. Which I try very hard to stay out of and away from. However it involves one of my wife‘s students Mom. I had thought of the cell phone option but was wondering about if the phone was needed for an actual call at the time.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Yes domestic situation. Which I try very hard to stay out of and away from. However it involves one of my wife‘s students Mom. I had thought of the cell phone option but was wondering about if the phone was needed for an actual call at the time.

It'll do both. No need to stop the camera to make a call. However, if you want a separate video recorder, look for a discrete recorder like a pen cam or the like, not a BWC. I've no idea what's good now, but if you Google "pen camera" I'm sure you can read until you find one you like.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Yes domestic situation. Which I try very hard to stay out of and away from. However it involves one of my wife‘s students Mom. I had thought of the cell phone option but was wondering about if the phone was needed for an actual call at the time.

FWIW, I recently had a situation with one of my neighbors and I did the cell phone recording thing. I had it clipped on my belt. It worked but I didn’t get much usable video because of where it was.

 

[indyblue]

Maybe one of the products mentioned on Kim Komando's site?

Security how-to: Turn your phone into a body cam for protection

You don't have to buy a body cam for added security, here are simple ways to turn your smartphone into the ultimate protector.

www.komando.com

 

[printcraft]

I guess I'm not needed here after all...

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Sounds like you may need a helmet too!

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