I live with serious recording devices every minute of my professional life, recording hundreds of aircraft parameters, my crews' voices, and all radio transmissions. Literally everything that can be recorded is recorded.
But...
The purpose of the recording is accident prevention. Unless there is evidence of gross negligence or misconduct, there is a strong bias against using the recorded data for discipline or prosecution. Because of this system, we have a pretty good idea of exactly what has caused every airline accident in recent memory, and we make changes to our machines and our training to avoid these things in the future.
That having been said, it seems that the purpose of this "iProtect" system is evidence collection, not accident prevention. It fairly screams "Second Guessing". Did the officer draw the weapon unnecessarily? Did he flip the safety off three seconds too early? Did he fire five times, when the threat seemed to have been eliminated after four?
This system is a can of worms that I would be very wary of if I were a street cop. I'd want no part of it, and I'd make sure my union had ironclad protections in place before I'd agree to carry it.
But...
The purpose of the recording is accident prevention. Unless there is evidence of gross negligence or misconduct, there is a strong bias against using the recorded data for discipline or prosecution. Because of this system, we have a pretty good idea of exactly what has caused every airline accident in recent memory, and we make changes to our machines and our training to avoid these things in the future.
That having been said, it seems that the purpose of this "iProtect" system is evidence collection, not accident prevention. It fairly screams "Second Guessing". Did the officer draw the weapon unnecessarily? Did he flip the safety off three seconds too early? Did he fire five times, when the threat seemed to have been eliminated after four?
This system is a can of worms that I would be very wary of if I were a street cop. I'd want no part of it, and I'd make sure my union had ironclad protections in place before I'd agree to carry it.
