Tac Cams Assist Police Surveillance
There are a number of tactical vision instruments on the market today that can help police officers see around, beneath, and even through barriers.
Instrument Technology has been making tactical cameras since 1967, and today offers many types of basic core vision technologies, from gas-tank cameras for drug searches to pole cameras for SWAT teams to peep-hole and under-door cameras.
Remington’s Eye Ball R1 won a 2006 innovation award as a ball-shaped camera that can be rolled, thrown, or lowered into place to provide two hours of live imagery. This ball-shaped device with an embedded lens is controlled and seen through a remote control and remote screen, and a kit with two Eye Ball R1 cameras costs $5,000.
The Supercircuits PC229XP Color Snake Camera costs under $250 and provides a camera attached to a flexible coil that can be extended for surveillance around the corner, over the top, and through cracks.
Tacview has a pole-mounted camera that can help officers investigate attics and crawl spaces without exposing their physical selves to danger, and the camera can be detached and mounted on a shield also, making this a versatile tool.
Zistos’ Dual Mode Camera Systems is a pole-mounted camera that can be carried in the back of a squad car. It has detectable poles for various length uses, is water-proof, and has some customizable options in terms of adding infrared illumination or thermal detection.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) from Police (03/07); Vol. 31, No. 3, P. 44; Scoville, Dean.
