by Alex Lloyd Gross
June 19,2023
In this day and age, police and fire departments that do not have less lethal equipment, or good equipment to document what happened are putting themselves at risk of liability and /or bad public relations. There are a number of companies that make electric stun guns and body cams. Axon is one of them and has a good share of the market.
They have a traveling road show that demonstrates to officers hands on what the equipment can do. Last week, that traveling roadshow came to Bensalem. It was set up in the parking lot adjacent to the courthouse. Tents to register and trailers for simulations and tests were there, as officers from multiple police departments showed up . They came from Philadelphia, Buckingham, Falls, wherever.
The event lasted a few hours. They even had a drone demonstration for police. This was not for the public, but if the public were to walk over, they could see the equipment as well. Body cams are beneficial to al that serve as police/fire/ems . Imagine a complaint is lodged that the public safety official did or said something. It is all there on camera to prove or refute those charges.
There is no better example than Southern California, several years ago when Micheal Jackson was arrested for child sex abuse. He was taken into an airport hanger, handcuffed and put into a police car. He later made accusations about the officer who drove him to the courthouse. After those complaints were made public, the entire trip was aired on television. Nowhere, at anytime was he treated with disrespect.He quickly withdrew his accusations.
The company had boxed lunches and t shirts for attendees.