New weapons technology aims to clarify officer-involved shooting footage

LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — Last year, Clark County saw more than 20 officer-involved shootings, now some departments in Southern Nevada are testing a weapon mounted camera from Viridian Weapon Technologies. The camera is focused on giving a unique perspective of what happens in an officer-involved shooting, using the gun’s camera as a firsthand witness. It’s a weapons mounted camera that instantly turns on and starts recording as soon as the gun is pulled from a police officer's holster. The camera continues recording until the officer's weapon is placed back into its holster. Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly says the technology is impressive. “We found the product is really, really nice. It fills a void that we found that we have. We’ve had a couple of shootings and the way the body camera sits on the chest and you bring your arm up to shoot, you don't get a full picture of what's going on,” explained Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly. “Every one of these pieces of technology keeps people honest. It tells you exactly what happened. It doesn't embellish anything and it doesn't go the other way. It is the facts,” she continued. Viridian President and CEO, Brian Hedeen, says the camera unit runs around $500 and is currently being tested by 400 different police departments in the United States including Metro and the Nye County Sheriffs Department. He also says the system is designed to give an uninterrupted view between the gun and the person in front of it. “Dash cams were designed to capture you know car pursuits or traffic stops. Body cams were meant to capture officer interactions, and this is meant to capture the most severe things that can face a police department,” said Heeden. Heeden says the company provides the testing materials at no cost to the departments.

Published at: 01-23-2019

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