Axon Highlights Advantages for Body-worn Cameras for Security Professionals

How body-worn cameras protect your officers, the public and the truth

Footage from body-worn cameras helps ensure accountability for both law enforcement officials and members of the public. So much so that body-worn cameras are now a regular part of law enforcement procedures, with seven states requiring officers to include a camera as part of their uniform. The benefits of body-worn cameras extend beyond policing; private security teams can use body-worn cameras to protect their officers, deter crime (e.g. theft in retail spaces) and ensure that the truth is captured if an incident does take place.

Footage from body-worn cameras helps ensure accountability for both law enforcement officials and members of the public. So much so that body-worn cameras are now a regular part of law enforcement procedures, with seven states in the U.S. requiring officers to include a camera as part of their uniform. The benefits of body-worn cameras extend beyond policing; private security teams can use body-worn cameras to protect their officers, deter crime (e.g. theft in retail spaces) and ensure that the truth is captured if an incident does take place. 

Benefits of body-worn cameras to security officers
Body-worn cameras tend to alter behavior for the better — people interacting with officers are  less likely to use “vulgarity, threats, or other behaviors that may be criminal in nature,” says Bryan Warren, President of WarSec Security. According to Warren, a body-worn camera can work as a kind of peace-keeping device and de-escalation tool all on its own, deterring a potential troublemaker from persisting in any disruptive actions. This keeps both your security officers and the people and spaces they were assigned to protect safe. 

If an incident does take place, your security officers can feel reassured knowing they acted with integrity since their recorded actions can be examined by law enforcement as well as the public and can even be used as evidence in court if necessary.

Benefits of body-worn cameras to operations
Aside from protecting individual officers, body-worn cameras can help your business manage incidents more effectively. Body-worn camera footage can help you understand and reconstruct what happened without having to rely solely on interviews. For retail businesses especially, the presence of security officers with body-worn cameras can aid in loss prevention, including employee theft. The mere presence of a camera, especially one that has livestreaming capabilities, is capable of deterring a crime, according to a former burglar. Having a security officer with a body-worn camera patrolling the premises can also make people less likely to engage in other disruptive activities, like intentionally damaging products or harassing other shoppers. 

Aside from being a crime deterrent and a helpful tool for managing incidents, the presence of body-worn camera footage has been linked to fewer complaints — one 2018 study found that every $1 spent on body-worn cameras equated to $4 saved in litigation. It seems that having irrefutable video evidence of what took place mitigates many frivolous complaints. 

Fewer complaints leads to less of your time and resources going to filing paperwork that leads nowhere. Generally speaking, using body-worn cameras can help you streamline administrative processes and make incidents easier to resolve since the presence of concrete evidence (via footage) will clearly show what took place.   

Body-worn cameras and incident response 
If one of your officers is involved in an incident, a body-worn camera with real-time response capabilities allows authorized personnel to livestream the incident as it is happening in the field and send help as needed. For example, leading body-worn camera platforms help ensure you never miss a moment by allowing leaders and support staff to watch a livestream remotely so they can assess the situation and offer guidance or backup as needed. For example, the Axon Body 3 works with Axon Respond using programmatic integrations and hardware sensors to send alerts to permissioned staff, so you’re in the know as soon as an incident takes place.

Benefits of body-worn cameras to the general public 
The truth benefits all, including anyone involved in security incidents and the public at large. Interacting with a security officer equipped with a body-worn camera, as well as seeing camera footage that clearly shows how events unfolded, can put people’s minds at ease and ultimately preserve a brand’s reputation following a dispute. 

Having readily-available footage can also assist law enforcement personnel with investigations and foster trust if a particular incident is publicized. By being able to show exactly what took place, you are confirming that you have nothing to hide, which bolsters your brand and your client’s brand. 

Preserve truth in the moment
In addition to live-streaming, Body cameras shout  feature reduced motion blur, four microphones and low-light performance to make sure your security team can get a complete picture of any incident in any conditions.