Date: Fri 18-Apr-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

police-video-cameras-cruiser

Full Text:

`Cruiser Cam' Joins The Police Force

Motorists, while driving through Newtown, may find that they are on "Candid

Camera" with the police department's recent acquisition of a compact video

camera.

Police have positioned the video camera behind a police cruiser's front

windshield. The device displays an image on a monitor and can feed an

electronic signal to make videotapes on a video cassette recorder mounted

inside the police car's trunk, explained Detective Robert Tvardzik, a police

spokesman.

The camera is sensitive enough to record video in nighttime lighting

conditions, he said.

Police plan to use the gear to make video recordings during their traffic law

enforcement, especially during drunken driving incidents. Such recordings can

be used as evidence in court cases.

The camera cost police about $3,700. Some $1,000 of that amount was

contributed by The Allstate Foundation, an insurance organization. The

remainder came from highway safety grants.

Officer Hynes demonstrated the camera to Mike Snyder, Allstate's local senior

agent.