EBPD finds efficiency in new camera system BY VINCENT TODARO Staff Writer East Brunswick police Lt. Russell MacArthur shows the features of the digital camera systems being installed in township police vehicles. EAST BRUNSWICK - Township police are employing a new digital imaging system that makes it easier to record and save recordings of traffic stops. The new system, which went online in July, is made by L-3 Communications Mobile-Vision Inc., of Boonton. The digital system brings an end to police use of VHS tapes, as well as the time it took to go through them and the room needed for storage, said police Lt. Russell MacArthur. The system is used in conjunction with the cameras in police cars. As the cameras accumulate video, the images are stored on a computer flash card. The card, which has no moving parts, can store up to four hours of video, which is far greater than the amount each camera is used on a given week. MacArthur said the beauty of the system is that, as soon as a police car pulls into the department's driveway, a computer server links with the car's video via an antenna. "It wirelessly downloads to a computer and is searchable and retained," he said of the video. "It is burned automatically to disc and saved forever more." Only a handful of police cars already have the new system, but as new cars are purchased they will be fitted with the system. The digital system replaces the VHS tapes, which MacArthur said are kept in the trunks of police cars until a supervisor takes them out and logs them as evidence. "It's very hands-on for them," MacArthur said. "Now they do not have to do that with the tapes because it all wirelessly downloads into the computer server." In fact, police can access the mobile version server from any computer work station in the building. "I can view videos at my desk," he said. "You used to need to bring up a videotape and scroll through it." The system also makes it easier for attorneys when they request discovery. Tapes have to be played in real time in order to be recorded, but the officers can quickly get to the needed area of a DVD recording and save it onto disc. Another benefit is that the system is not affected by bumps in the road. When a VHS tape records, if the car hits a bump, the tape moves and the video gets distorted, he said. "No moving parts here means no bouncing," he said of the digital system. The system actually takes care of itself to some extent, he said. For example, pre-event recording means that whenever an officer turns the system on, it will save the 30 seconds of footage that occurred before activation. If the officer does not turn the system on, that footage is recorded over. The system also has what MacArthur called "crash sensors," saving 30 seconds of footage before any accident the car may be involved in. Once downloaded to the server, the recordings are erased from the car's memory but saved on the main computer system. The DVDs created are easier to store than the VHS tapes, MacArthur noted, and easier to search through. "The computer will tell me what DVD to get and load, even if the image is no longer in the computer's memory," he said. The server and first six units cost $50,000, he said. As the department purchases new police cars, it will buy more units. "In three years or less, we'll be completely digital," he said.