Who's using dash cams and what kind?

Video recording laws by state: http://www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=13492

 

I come from the electronic security industry, have worked with both analog and and IP security cameras for over 15 years. I will probably mount a dome IP cam on the dash with Velcro with an 8 gig SD card and program it to dump data every two days. I may wire it to my laptop and hold more recordings, not sure yet.

True, do not record police activity. They can charge you with a felony and lock you up, no joke. This will be law in all 50 states very soon. Also, do not record any audio recordings without written permission, this goes for any civilian or police.

 

I use my Droid phone with the Car suction mount and Daily voyager is the app I use. Works fine.

 

I recommend the po-po not stand in front of my truck for a whole multitude of reasons...

I understand it's the law depending on the jurisdiction, but have "dash cams" in particular been addressed? I mean, if the cops walk into my place of business they are being recorded by security cameras. --Am I suppose to run and shut that equipment down just because the cops are eating in my restaurant, or shopping in my store, or taking a police report? My dash cam is for security purposes.

Or are they selectively enforcing the law to retaliate against citizen activists?

I could probably disable the audio. --if that's the big issue... But something tells me it's more then that.

 

Cops hate leverage

 

The intent was to keep people with handhelds from recording and posting to YouTube. Of course if they were doing the right thing the video would never show anything against the officer. But these days it's hard to tell the cop from the criminal.


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=33.544403,-85.077261

 

If you videotape the police saving a baby from a pitbull, then you'll be fine, anything else and you're gonna be in trouble. MA, MD and FL all have cases where people taking photos of the police were slapped with felonies, despite the fact the police were behaving inappropriately!

I would shut it off before you enter a weigh station so you dont inadvertently record an on duty officier. You also have to be cautious about recording bridges and other sensitive structures. Usually a sign is posted.

 

This is the reason why businesses post a sign that says something to the affect "You are being recorded" or "surveillance cameras in use on these premises." It is more difficult win a case against the person recording who has clearly posted that you are being recorded.

The laws in most states say that only ONE person (presumably the person dong the recording) has to be aware of it. But as you can see from the links posted previously in this post, SOME states require that 2, or "all" parties have to be aware that they are being recorded. If they are recording AUDIO also, it can incorporate further privacy laws than video alone in some states. Illinois appears to be the most strict about all of this. That's where the sign helps CYA. The original intent of these laws was to protect the CITIZEN's rights from law enforcement illegal wiretaps.

HOWEVER, we are now in the cell phone + YouTube age and the wiretap laws do not accommodate this modern twist. So now, many states are struggling with how to stay within civil rights AND still provide adequate protection for your "wiretap" rights (whether or not you are a cop.)

Dash cams fall into yet another gray area. The roadways fall within "public domain" where it is typically legal to record just about anything. There have been NO CASES that I have found whereby a drive recorder which recorded an accident was used to prosecute the person using it for doing the recording itself. However, if you are recording a law enforcement officer who has just stopped you, I would let him know that you have a road recorder right up front just to be safe.

 

So what about putting signs on your truck that say the area around the truck is being recorded on CCTV? Would help legal case, but could also encourage cop to give truck some trouble.

I believe the law was created to prevent people walking around recording video of cops for the purpose of putting up on YouTube. I doubt they would make any trouble to a business with security cameras. Its not like your putting it in their face with obvious intend of uploading to YouTube.

And yes the cops are basically scared of being caught in their criminal activity, which is becoming more and more common.

I bet chances are cop won't even notice your running a dash cam, along with all the other gadgets in the truck like GPS, Recharge cell phone, cb radio, clock, etc etc.

I just saw a 5" display GPS with picture in picture display of built in Dash Cam, which is totally awesome, 2 for 1 device. I hope they continue to improve that and make more.

 

I got a Black Box dashcam by Blue Tiger... they're available at TAs or online. I've had it for 2 months now, and so far I've been pleased with the unit. It has locked-up twice, but hitting the reset has brought it back. A couple of hiccups like that isn't enough to sour me on it. All I needed to do was re-enter the date and time, and it started right up.

http://www.bluetigerusa.com/drive-series-headsets/dash-cam-black-box-1080-by-blue-tiger/

It's advertised as being a 1080p unit. The display on the built-in screen is adequate, but to really use that kind of video quality you need to display it on a much larger screen capable of displaying HD video. Using that kind of display you can view most vehicle markings and license plates as long as they are reasonably close to the camera. Night recording quality is adequate... to get good detail, the recorded object must be lit up. It will record anything within the arc of your headlights, and in a lit parking lot (for example) it will record in good detail.

I haven't tried the interface to the laptop yet, but I did insert the SD-card into my laptop. It read the card, displayed all of the recording files and I was able to access all of the recordings with only a double-click on the file names. No problems there.

60-days into it, and I haven't cussed it yet.