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Gardai on protests within the past week (top and centre) and The Vievu (above);

 

John Flanagan writes:

“Looking at a number of water protest pics from the weekend, there were a number of Guards wearing video cameras. It seems that these cameras were introduced quickly and quietly….

…Details? $900 dollars per unit, Selectable Video Resolution: 1280×720 HD or 848×480 Widescreen SD; Enhanced Image Quality and Low Light Capability 5 hour Record Time; 12 Hours with Extended Battery Pack; 16GB of Internal Storage and Mute Functionality…”

Vievu Body Cam

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67 thoughts on “Yes They Cam”

  1. Spartacus

    Correctly implemented, this could be a very good thing.

    Oh, wait. I was forgetting who we were dealing with here, and which country we´re in.

    1. Gers

      Provided the rotten Garda culture is done away with then yes, it might be good. But more than likely the device will have strangely malfunctioned if a Garda did something wrong or the device will be “misplaced” if anything incriminating Garda is on it… It will of course be used to prosecute anyone else!

      1. munkifisht

        Won’t be done away with. This will be a one way form of evidence used (rightly) for instances where the Gardi are attacked but if there is an incident of a Gaurd acting beyond reasonable force or breaking the law in some other regard the camera will somehow A) get lost, B) never have existed or C) have run out of batteries.

    2. Mark Dennehy

      I was thinking this was a very good step forward…
      …right up until I saw the words “mute functionality”.

      What possible good reason would there be for a camera designed to record evidence like this having a button the Garda can push so it won’t record sound?

      1. Bobby

        It’s not designed for recording evidence, though. Isn’t it a consumer camera that the gardaí will be using.

        2. Mark Dennehy

          It’s not designed for recording evidence, though. Isn’t it a consumer camera that the gardaí will be using.

          Nope.

          http://www.vievu.com/vievu-products/hardware/#le3

          “The world’s leading police body worn camera”
          “The camera clips to a uniform to record both the actions of the wearer and those in its field of view. ”
          “Video evidence is securely stored and catalogued with a FIPS 140-2 compliant digital signature process, to verify the video has not been altered. Additionally, if the camera is lost or stolen, VIEVU’s VidLock security software will prevent unauthorized access to video evidence.”

  3. Sidewinder

    You’d think that this would be welcomed by protestors given the effects such cameras have had in the states.

    Some people are never happy.

    1. Spartacus

      Yes, because the AGS have no recent history of misplacing evidence which may or may not incriminate members.

      1. Mister Mister

        There’s about a million (may be an exaggeration, but keeping with the theme of these type of threads) people with iPhones around anyway.

        2. Mister Mister

          The The were pretty good in the 80s, but as you say, there’s fairly redundant in this modern age.

    2. banned of censored

      Where’s the connection to 1984?
      Gardai and protestors filming the events of the day hardly equates to in your home constant monitoring and scrutiny of your actions

      Grow up and read something with a bit more subtlety than Orwell
      or write your leaving cert English essay on it, if you’re that age then well done on reading something political in the first place, any older and you really ought to grow up.

    1. Mister Mister

      The professional protesters are upset they weren’t consulted before they were introduced, judging by the goon hiding behind the Anon moniker.

      Next time perhaps when Justice and Gardai want to use new equipment and procedures they should make contact with them on their facebook pages to consult with them first.

      2. Padi

        I think they are annoyed too that they didn’t get an allowance to get one themselves, because you know, de rich have them.

      3. Dermot Bohan

        Where does it say that people, professional protestor or otherwise, are upset about this?
        The “quickly and quietly” reference doesn’t exactly scream “government conspiracy”.

        Personally, I think it’s a good thing as long as the worries above about evidence “going missing” doesn’t occur. I wouldn’t hold my breath though.

        Asthma.

  7. phil

    Its no bad thing , but public procurement again …of course they bought the most expensive ones they could find. I have one on my bike helmet , contour roam 2 , cost me about 1/4 the price of the Gardai version ..

  8. Johnny B

    I suppose a 379 yoyo GoPro would have been too cheap for them. Wait for it now, nothing but first-Garda perspective footage of jumps off the 40-foot.

  9. Clampers Outside!

    How long until the first case where these images are required and it’ll be “my battery died” or “he forgot to hit record”.

    It’s a good thing…. just… not really worth a tuppeny sh*te in the Garda force as it is in it’s shambolic corrupt state.

    1. Mani

      Given the average technological know-how of John Law, I’d say those excuses could be both rampant and valid.

    2. Murtles

      Doubt they’d get away with it that handily. Presume due to the expense, they are numbered and tagged and not just left lying around the office so I would expect that the wearer would have to sign them out and in. Plus a quick review on return would sort out any anomalies – “Gerry you were gone 5 hours but there’s only 3 hours of vid-ja”. On the other hand, per the specs, they can be set to consant record, quite embarrassing if you have to go to the jacks mid-shift. Tapes being reviewed in the station and Gerrys 20 minutes on the bog after a feed of vindaloo from the previous night is broadcast in HD and surround sound.

  11. Loony Loo

    I hate people who rile against the Gardai. They are here to protect and serve, and when they done with that, they have a wife who is going to nag them when they get home. It’s too much to take, cut them some slack.

  12. Bobby Rwanda

    This is the best thing that could possibly have happened the Gardaí. Provided there isn’t any post-event tampering / deletion of video recordings, fair play to them.

    2. Mark Dennehy

      That’s the amazon-to-a-private-customer price, for a bare-bones model with no tech support contract; and from the specs on amazon and the specs on the Vievu website, the amazon model looks like an earlier, discontinued, lower-spec model rather than the higher-spec model on their website, for which Vievu quote the $900 price. Which would be why you can’t actually buy it from Amazon as it’s unavailable there…

  19. Ann Fetton

    900 dollars? Since when did the public procurement process extend beyond the state? C’mon lads, if the Shell protesters get to use them, why not the guards?

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