Safety Vision enjoyed a friendly visit from two law enforcement professionals, today: Pictured are Warrant Deputy Damon Wegner (left) and Patrol Lieutenant Billy Ruemke of the Washington County Sheriff’s Department in nearby Brenham, Texas. The visit coincided with the installation of four OPV by Safety Vision in-car patrol video systems in their fleet’s latest vehicles: four 2006 Dodge Chargers. Soon, the department plans to retrofit its entire fleet with Safety Vision in-car video equipment.
According to Lt. Ruemke, “We’ve been using police car video cameras for about 10 years, now. We started back when the technology consisted of camcorders bouncing on the dashboard.” Technology has evolved, and mobile-rated police car video systems are considerably more rugged and reliable. Today, the two law officers say they can’t imagine patrol duty without onboard video recording.
“The police car cameras are helpful in so many situations, especially as a quick way to solve a complaint,” says Ruemke. The officers mentioned the technology’s contributions to racial profiling reporting and said the in-car video technology is invaluable in DWI and drug interdiction stops as well as domestic disturbance calls. In fact, says Deputy Wegner, “It’s hard to get a DWI conviction without a video.”
And the officers say they rely on in-car audio just as much as the video. (Our OPV by Safety Vision features an industry-leading 900 MHz audio unit and a discreet, backseat-mounted microphone.) “You might catch two perps back there trying to get their stories straight, or you might get audiotaped proof of consent to search on a drug interdiction: Later, they can’t say they didn’t consent.” Concludes Wegner, “Nobody likes to get arrested–and sometimes people lie. These in-car video systems catch those lies.”
We enjoyed our visit with Officers Ruemke (who drives a Charger on duty) and Wegner (who drives a pickup truck on duty, claiming good naturedly that he does “all the grunt work”). It’s our privilege and pleasure to serve these and other public servants. After all, that’s what they do for us–every day.
- Christine Portillo, Marketing Director
