Arizona PD One of the First Departments to Give Officers Weapon Mounted Cameras

Photo Credit: Viridianweapontech.com

A small police department in Williams AZ is issuing Viridian’s FACT Duty Weapon-Mounted Camera to the 15 members of its police force.

According to Williams PD officials, the departments officers have already been issued body cams, but the officials wanted great recording capability.

While the small department has never had an officer involved shooting, Williams PD Lt. Darrell Hixson said:

“I believe in this. Police are taught to take cover and concealment,” Hixson said. “If they do that maybe the (body) camera’s pointing at a wall now.”

The pistol cameras are mounted to the rail underneath most modern handguns, providing, “… an unobstructed video from the muzzle point of view the moment the weapon is drawn,” according to Viridian Weapon Technologies.

“We’ve seen the need for something like this for a while,” said Williams Police Chief Herman Nixon in an emailed statement. “We had a chance to test this product right away, and it makes sense for our department.

What we like about it is the fact that we don’t need to retrain anyone, it records automatically and it provides visibility into an officer-involved-shooting if it occurs.”

The camera boasts 1080p video quality, audio recording, and a weapon light with an impressive 500 lumen output. It also has a micro USB charging port and strobe setting.

The camera, using  “INSTANT-ON technology” does not begin recording until after the weapon has been drawn from the holster. This limits the amount of data that needs to uploaded and tracked by departments.

The XTL GEN 3 w/ Tactical Light and HD Camera  is available to civilians from the Viridian website for $399.00, while the X5L GEN 3 comes with a green laser, and runs for $599.00.

Hixson, a veteran of the SWAT team with over 3000 entries said the Williams PD wanted to be proactive with an “insurance policy” to record officer involved incidents.

What do you think of gun mounted cameras? Leave us a comment below to let us know.