Samsung Galaxy Z Flip phones are now being used by police as bodycams: Here’s how it happened

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 made its debut a few weeks ago and after going viral among the athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympics, the foldable phone is now being used by law enforcement officials in the United States. In a surprising move, cops in the US are now using the Galaxy Flip for surveillance and several other purposes.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip phones used as police body cams

As per the post shared by Samsung, Kimberling City Police and Indian Point Police used a range of foldable Galaxy Z Flip smartphones for a pilot project for testing the capability of electronic devices for improving the efficiency of everyday operations of the police officials two years ago. 

This was the first time when police officials used a foldable device as a bodycam. Following the culmination of the pilot project, two new police departments began to use the Flip devices as bodycams. Similarly, the outcomes of the pilot tests are reportedly being adopted by 25 metro police stations situated in five states. 

Converting Galaxy Z Flip devices into bodycams

The Flip devices which were involved in the police testing were specially designed by collaborating with a company known as Visual Labs which modified the mobile devices so that they can function as body cams and dash cameras. According to Samsung, some alterations such as renovating the mobile’s volume button for starting the camera were done so that it becomes easy for police personnel to start recording while on the field quickly.

Samsung’s recent blog post has taken many users, especially its US audience by surprise as no one expected that it would showcase this intriguing use case. The Verge, a tech publication, shared an investigative report published in New York Times and ProPublica that  highlighted the role of local laws in hindering the release of the body cam footage.

 

Increasing role of tech devices in law enforcement activities

Samsung is not the only company whose products have been entrusted by the law enforcement. Ring, an Amazon owned company producing smart doorbells, was involved  with the police officials in which it had an agreement regarding the kind and manner of sharing the footage. 

Undoubtedly, the role of technology in areas such as law enforcement and security has increased over the years. Nowadays, investigative agencies and defense forces are using high tech devices such as face recognition systems and drones for ensuring security. 

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