Body-worn cameras have, for long, been used in the law enforcement segment. Their purpose in the vertical is undisputed. However, recent years have seen these cameras being used outside the police forces.
Body-worn cameras have, for long, been used in the law enforcement segment. Their purpose in the vertical is undisputed. However, recent years have seen these cameras being used outside the police forces.
In a recent webinar by Sentry 360, Thomas Carnevale, Founder and CEO of the company, explained the various verticals that they see body-worn cameras being used in and how they make a difference.
Obviously, the first vertical is the cousin of law enforcement - security guards for commercial spaces. Them having an option to protect self from liability, and have an extension to their fixed wired service is a natural progression.
“So we think that any moving key employees or security guards that are responsible for securing the grounds of any facility should use body-worn cameras,” said Carnevale.
Fire departments and emergency medical technicians are other segments of people that require body-worn cameras. Sentry 360 said that in their interactions with several fire departments and systems integrators supporting them, they have found this as a growing market.
The third segment of people who would need them are those working in the transportation segment. This is not just about the TSA or airport security staff, but also those in trains and other public transportation systems.
The fourth vertical where body-worn cameras are becoming more and more popular are festivals and events.
“When you have a large number of people and they outnumber those securing the place, you have to have that extra layer of mobile security,” said Carnevale.
Carnevale also said that the final two segments took them by surprise. They are quality control and manufacturing divisions.
But what are these cameras used for in these verticals? One of the main uses of wearable cameras outside security is for training purposes. Wearables are seeing what the user is doing. This is an easy content creator tool for training. A usage that works in harmony with that is process improvement.
Another scenario of usage of these cameras is quality control, according to Carnevale, who claimed that this could actually be a potential cost-saving measure.
“The camera could catch things the human eye couldn’t see and really create a high-level sophistication in the quality control process,” he said.
Liability coverage is another function that body-worn cameras have a role to play in. An obvious scenario is liability against false claims. If your staff have false claims, this is a good technology that can protect people from lawsuits. Inspection is another purpose they are used in. For officers that go to various sites for inspections, body-worn cameras prove to be of great assistance.