Biloxi Police Department Selects Utility's BodyWorn™ Cameras to Optimize the Transparency of its Body Camera Program
Utility's Suite of Smart Recording Devices Enhance Biloxi Police Department Operations While Eliminating Unnecessary Costs
BILOXI, Miss., May 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Utility, Inc. announced today that the Biloxi, Mississippi Police Department has officially approved the deployment of 120 BodyWorn™ body cameras and 100 Rocket™ in-vehicle wireless routers to supply its officers with state-of-the-art communication and video recording technology. BodyWorn™ is currently the only body camera product on the market that offers smart, automated recording capabilities.
"We conducted numerous field tests of recording devices on the market before selecting BodyWorn™ as our provider," said Biloxi Police Department Director John Miller. "Their product was notably superior from the start and we've been favorably impressed with the company's continued efforts to update and improve, at no additional cost. Their storage capabilities, playback features and redaction capabilities were unmatched in our studies. When you consider product ability, performance, enhancements and cost, there's nothing better on the market than BodyWorn™."
BodyWorn™ is embedded into the officer's uniform to automatically record interactions with the public based on the Department's clearly-defined privacy policies. The system utilizes the advanced capabilities of a smartphone—using policy-based, automatic triggers such as an accelerometer, GPS and voice activation—to begin recording. This is significantly different from all other body camera products on the market today, which require officers to manually start recording when the officer deems it necessary. In addition, BodyWorn™'s Smart Offload feature further optimizes transparency by automatically offloading video content to a secure cloud storage system as it is being recorded. Competing products can only upload video files manually when the officers return to the precinct at the end of their shifts; this often leads to increased paperwork and departments spending unnecessary overtime pay because there are a limited number of upload ports.
"All of our technology is designed to substitute expensive and time consuming manual operations with technologically-advanced automated systems so police officers can dedicate their time to protecting the communities they serve," said Robert McKeeman, CEO of Utility. "This is the 21st century, and there is no reason officers should be using outdated and inadequate manual technology. BodyWorn™ is the only device on the market that provides law enforcement agencies with the smart technology needed to meet today's transparency and accountability demands. We look forward to working closely with Director Miller and the Biloxi Police Department's team of highly-skilled officers."
Along with advanced smart recording technology, the Biloxi Police Department will also have the benefit of the industry's only automated redaction software, Smart Redaction™, as a standard feature to its video management system at no added cost. Smart Redaction™ identifies faces, and other identifiable objects, and can automatically redact video based on the Department's specific privacy policies to protect citizen and police officer privacy. This unique capability allows a police department to quickly and reliably redact video in response to any media request for a completely transparent video recording and video management operation. Smart Redaction also eliminates the very high labor costs associated with manually redacting video.
Jackson, Mississippi-based PILEUM, an authorized reseller of BodyWorn™ and Utility's IT consultant and systems integration partner will work alongside Utility to help the Biloxi Police Department deploy BodyWorn™.
"The selection of the BodyWorn™ solution by Director Miller, Chief of Police at Biloxi PD, is an early indication of how law enforcement agencies that have taken a wait-and-see approach to body cameras, due to the shortcomings of first generation hardware-based solutions, will adopt this software-based solution at a rapid pace," said Jill Beneke, President and CEO of PILEUM. "The BodyWorn™ solution is simply the best system available today, providing unparalleled features and functionality to our customers in both the public safety and commercial space. Utility's software-based approach has allowed them to develop the most feature-rich system on the market by adding unique capabilities based on real-world feedback from law enforcement officers. These capabilities not only provide high-definition body camera and in-car video but also fully leverage the two-way communications afforded by the solution to enhance officer safety and transparency, all delivered via cloud services to maximize availability, data security and ease of management while minimizing impact on the existing IT infrastructure and staff. We are extremely excited at how the Gulf Coast is reacting to Biloxi's choice of BodyWorn™."
For more information about Utility's suite of smart products, including BodyWorn™ devices, that enhance law enforcement agencies' ability to efficiently access the full evidence ecosystem using automated technology, visit http://www.Bodyworn.com.
About BodyWorn™
BodyWorn™ uses smart mobile computing technology incorporating real-time communications for the best possible Situational Awareness. Only BodyWorn™ provides policy-based recording, Officer Down emergency alerts, live video streaming, and Smart Offload that securely, automatically offloads video wirelessly to cloud storage. BodyWorn™ video, audio and metadata can be accessed through the AVaiLWeb™ digital evidence management solution hosted on Amazon AWS. BodyWorn™ Software as a Service will continue to evolve to meet the demands of Police Departments around the world. BodyWorn™ and the Rocket IoT™ in-car video system leverage Amazon Web Services cloud storage, and provide our customers with Mission Critical Intelligence.
About Utility
Utility is a venture-capital funded company headquartered in Decatur, Georgia (Metro Atlanta) founded in 2001. The company provides Mission Critical Intelligence through the Rocket IoT™ vehicle video routers and BodyWorn™ video systems for Police, Fire, EMS, Electric and Gas Utility, and Public Transit customers. Utility offers a unified operating platform for safely locating, tracking and supporting all aspects of mobile field operations. Utility owns US patents 6,831,556; 7,768,548; 8,781,475; 9,246,898; and 9,282,495 and has numerous patents pending with the US, Canadian, and the European Union Patent Offices.
For more information, visit http://www.utility.com and http://www.bodyworn.com.
Contact: Jake Mendlinger
Office: 516-829-8374 / Cell: 516-639-3373
Email: [email protected]
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SOURCE Utility, Inc.
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