Investing in Police and Body Cams

Police corruption, institutional racism, and the warrior cop — these have been the overriding themes circulating news outlets and social media platforms since the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9th.

The events reached a boiling point this week when Missouri Governor Jay Nixon was forced to call in the National Guard, stating it was necessary for “restoring peace and order” to the St. Louis suburb.

The entire situation has been a flat-out embarrassment on far too many fronts.

For the police, it’s been an issue of professionalism and respect. Canisters of tear gas were shot indiscriminately into the city streets, gassing journalists and protesters alike.

Officers rocked camo pants, bulletproof vests, and heavy assault rifles, raising many questions about the department’s duty to “protect and serve.”

No doubt the heavy militarization of the Ferguson Police Department has accomplished nothing but building further backlash across the U.S.

As for the citizens of Ferguson, it’s been matter of civility. Violent riots and rampant looting showed that many of Ferguson’s citizens cared little about the underlying issue. Instead, they preferred to take advantage of Brown’s death for their own benefit.

It’s a similar mentality to the one that arose during the Rodney King Riots in 1992 and ironically did nothing but feed into pre-existing prejudices surrounding black Americans. It’s not that people should be making generalizations based on this behavior, but that they inevitably will.

You cannot combat racism in America through violence and theft — it only feeds the flame.

In the iconic words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “Hate begets hate, violence begets violence, and toughness begets a greater toughness.”

Neither the Ferguson police nor these unruly citizens seemed to take these words to heart.

Police Transparency

Despite this regrettable spiral of violence that took place in Ferguson between both parties over the past few weeks, there’s been at least one positive thing to come out of this situation: Michael Brown’s death has forced a heavy background dialogue regarding how we monitor interactions involving law enforcement.

One of the defining factors of this case has been a lack of video evidence. Because the Ferguson Police Department has neither installed dash cams in its vehicles nor issued body cams for its officers, there are still (and will continue to be) many unanswered questions surrounding this case.

This lack of evidence has not only resulted in dueling narratives fueled with speculation, but has even invited the Department of Justice to call for an official autopsy of Brown’s body. When the federal government needs to step into a local investigation, you know things have gone completely awry.

Of course, the autopsy can only reveal so much about the actual events preceding Michael’s death. It may tell us how many times he was shot and from which angle, but as for what words were spoken or whether or not the officer was reasonably threatened — those questions will forever remain in the gray.

The lack of video evidence from the Ferguson Police Department is incredibly troubling. We live in a time when Apple is installing cameras in its mobile devices for less than $15 so people can post selfies on Facebook, but our local law enforcement can’t make a similar investment to ensure transparency. It’s utter and total nonsense.

It’s terribly unfortunate that someone needed to die for this to become a mainstream issue, but it’s become more than apparent to the public since Brown’s death that there’s an overwhelming disparity between technological capability and what police departments are actually doing to monitor their officers.

The issue of police surveillance has gained significant public attention in recent weeks because of these events. St. Louis native Kirk Siefert, for example, recently put forth a White House petition calling for the “Michael Brown Law,” which would require all state, county, and local police to wear cameras to ensure transparency.

Siefert explains:

“Many continue to speculate what happened, and we may never know the truth, but one thing we know for sure is that the officer who killed him did not have a car dash camera or a body cam to record the incident — a camera that could have prevented the incident or given us clear information about what happened.”

Siefert’s point that a camera “could have prevented the incident” can’t be stressed enough. People tend to be on their best behavior when they know they’re being recorded, and cops are certainly not an exception.

This claim isn’t just conjecture, though — the benefit of police cams has been well documented since the adoption of dash cams in police cruisers in the 1980s. More recently, research has focused on the effects of body cams, proving that when cops are on record, violence is severely minimized.

In March 2013, Chief Tony Farrar of the Police Foundation completed an extensive study evaluating the effect of body-worn video cameras on police use-of-force. For a 12-month period, cameras were deployed to every patrol officer in the Rialto, California Police Department, ultimately resulting in a dramatic reduction in use-of-force, as well as complaints against officers.

The authors of the study concluded: “The findings suggest more than a 50% reduction in the total number of incidents of use-of-force compared to control-conditions, and nearly ten times more citizens’ complaints in the 12-months prior to the experiment.”

In other words, the benefits of body cams are mutual. These devices help citizens by keeping law enforcement in check, and they also help officers by drastically reducing complaints against them.

Ferguson’s police chief Thomas Jackson was quoted by CNN saying the department didn’t have cameras installed because they were “too expensive,” but we can be pretty sure he’s re-questioning the cost-benefit scenario at this point.

Not only has the lack of video evidence caused a media hell-storm to rain down on Thomas and his department, but it’s likely also costing them thousands in overtime, legal fees, and equipment. Tear gas canisters and Taser cartridges aren’t cheap, and neither are civil suits.

Eyes on the Man

Now, you may be wondering what any of this has to do with investing, so I’ll skip to my point: Over the next decade, you’re going to see a surge in the number of body-mounted cameras used in law enforcement.

This will happen whether or not we see proposed legislation such as Siefert’s “Michael Brown Law” come to light, because departments are learning the financial benefits these cameras provide far outweigh the cost of installment.

If you’ve been following tech IPOs this year, you’re well aware that point-of-view (POV) camera maker GoPro (NASDAQ: GPRO) began trading public equity in June.

Up 27% already, many analysts are warning investors that share value is inflated. However, very few of these analysts are considering the true bull case for GoPro: body-mounted cameras for military and law enforcement.

Though GoPro does not offer a specific camera for this market, it does offer a specific camera mount targeted for police and military use. The company’s cameras are versatile enough to not require a specific police model at the moment, though GoPro has yet to publicly rule that option out.

The idea of cops wearing GoPro cameras isn’t just personal speculation. Officers of Colorado’s Lafayette Police Department are already beginning to wear GoPro’s Hero camera line.

In fact, these officers want the cameras so badly, they’re paying for their own.

That’s right; while the department requires an additional $20,000 in funds to outfit its 40 officers, six have already taken the initiative to ensure transparency by bringing their own devices to work.

To the right is a photo of Officer Dan Tipton, taken by Colorado Hometown Weekly‘s Doug Pike.

GoPro definitely has the name-brand advantage here, but that will matter much less to law enforcement than it does to the consumer market. Police departments will primarily be concerned with cost and capability.

There are several body-cam companies, both private and public, that have already established a strong relationship with law enforcement agencies across the U.S. GoPro will need to begin building relationships with police departments if it wishes to compete on this front.

GoPro would also benefit by adapting its cameras, as its competitors are already providing high-quality devices to departments across the States.

Taken from the Rialto study, which used a GoPro alternative:

“These body-mounted cameras capture video evidence from the officer’s perspective. Weighing 108 grams and small enough to place on the officer’s shirt pocket, the camera systems can be affixed to the hat, collar, shoulder, or specially designed Oakley sunglasses. The unit is water resistant, the video is fullcolor, and the battery life lasts for at least 12 hours, thus making it ideal for the shift patterns of Rialto Police.”

Due to its shape and size, GoPro’s Hero line is not versatile enough to be affixed to a hat or pair of sunglasses. Likewise, the camera’s battery life is significantly shorter, offering less than three hours of continuous recording. These will be considerable factors for any department making an investment.

On the plus side, a basic GoPro camera is relatively less expensive than competing brands (as much as 50% of the cost). The field-of-view angle on a GoPro is also larger when using certain settings, and the camera films in full 1080p. Additionally, the Hero line offers Wi-Fi capability, which potentially opens the door to live video streaming — an additional motivator for officers to remain professional.

In any case, the aftermath of Ferguson will ultimately benefit GoPro and its POV camera competitors. Following these events, there’s little reason not to expect an increased demand for this technology.

A forewarning, though: It would be wise let the hype cool off before buying into any body-cam stocks right now — GPRO and its competition have been rallying all week.

Turning progress to profits,

Jason Stutman

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