BWC Basketball Breakthrough

Another Implementation of body-worn cameras (BWC) outside of Law Enforcement has made it to the United States. Kenmore, Washington, began equipping their game officials with body-worn cameras to deter poor spectator behavior. ESPN: Testing body cameras as a potential solution to abuse of game officials.

The abusive and threatening behavior directed toward game officials at an 8th-grade basketball game turned violent when a spectator intentionally knocked an elderly game official to the ground, breaking his nose. This assault prompted the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association to proactively seek a solution to deter such Ill-mannered behavior. The solution??.. body-worn cameras! 

Many believe that actively recording a person's actions will change their behavior and curb violence. BWC can provide objective documentation . In fact, the BWC will offer a more comprehensive timeline of events due to the “pre-event recording” feature which permits the device to record in a continuous loop until the BWC is intentionally activated. It then attaches the prior 30 seconds to one minute of video, whereas a spectator camera will likely only begin recording after a situation has begun only offering partial insight into the incident. 

In store cameras record patrons, home security records would be vandals and thieves and BWCs record personal adversarial encounters. It doesn’t matter the type of uniform the user is wearing; they offer a first-person point of view of an event which there is rarely a rebuttal. 

The areas of opportunity to utilize Body Worn Cameras as a solution will steadily increase in the coming years and will impact many industries outside of law enforcement. Regardless of the industry, Principis Group Inc. is prepared to assist you getting your private enterprise program off to a successful start.