] With videotape systems, the recorder is typically turned ] on when the law-enforcement officer switches on a police ] car's flashers. With the digital video system, the two ] minutes to four minutes of video captured before an ] incident will be instantly written to the hard drive, ] essentially storing a glimpse into the past. ] ] Such pre-event recording is important, Schneider said. ] "You have a violation that occurred, but what you capture ] now is the officer turning on his light, and that's only ] half the piece of the pie," he said. "Wouldn't it be nice ] if you could get the guy running the red light in the ] first place? That's what this system gives us." ] ] The system also includes a way to protect the chain of ] custody, so the video evidence will be admissible in ] court. The recorder authenticates all the video to ] prevent changes, and it will have a checkout system to ] keep track of which officers have checked out which hard ] drives. ] ] Still, the system will raise some sticky policy ] questions, said Lou Latham, a research analyst with ] business-tech research firm Gartner. ] ] "It's a fair witness, as (science fiction writer Robert ] Heinlein) used to say," he said. "Everything is ] recorded--and there are ups and downs to that--but it's a ] powerful sociological tool." TiVos for police surveillance. I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but I think it'll make it harder to 'lose' video evidence. Slightly. News: Cop cams to put infractions on record |