www.mddailyrecord.com/article.cfm?id=830&type=UTTM -
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Published on: 4/2/2007
Last Visited: 4/2/2007
The technology can protect officers and their departments from lawsuits, protect citizens from officer misconduct, and provide video evidence for presentation at trial, said company founder and President Angela Corrieri.
"We want to provide tools that are more intelligent to help the people that protect us," Corrieri said.
Mobile Digital Systems is far from the only firm working on such technology.The systems have been around since the advent of VHS, Corrieri said, and most still are videotape-based.
The company's technology, though, is digital and wireless, and is capable of beaming images live to a remote server, potentially allowing real-time monitoring.A costly wireless infrastructure is needed for that type of service, Corrieri admitted , a more reasonable proposition is to wirelessly upload recorded data once a day.
Of the 525,000 police cars in the United States, just 12 percent are equipped with cameras, Corrieri said.
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There are a number of barriers to the cameras' market penetration, Corrieri admitted.
A key stumbling block is cost.Mobile Digital Systems' technology costs about $6,000 per car.Older VHS systems are at least half that,
"It's a challenge, in terms of budgets," Corrieri admitted.
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"If you have a tower that overlooks … the entrance to the Port of Baltimore, you don't want to have to pay someone to view the video all day long," said Corrieri, who added that he envisions the system being used for border security, military applications, homeland security , and, of course, in police cars.
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That's just the type of testing a major car manufacturer would require before agreeing to include the system in all its cars , a dream for Corrieri.
The ultimate goal, though, is to sell the company to a larger firm that integrates technology for us in homeland security or public safety, she added.
"We'll grow the company," she said.
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