Project Concept

Police work is dangerous. Officers are often put in violent situations, and those calling the shots lack the complete understanding of the situation that they need in order to respond safely and appropriately. But it is not only the officers who are in danger. Now more than ever, social media is bringing to light stories of brutality and racial discrimination by law enforcement agencies around the country. In these stories, different parties often offer opposing reports. It can be difficult for the public and the legal system to know what really happened. 360LifeStream is a solution to this problem, aiming to accurately capture events involving police, to hold those, police or not, who act wrongly accountable, and to ultimately save lives.

360LifeStream will use multiple cameras mounted on a police car to capture 360 degrees of video any time a police officer is actively involved in a case or incident (i.e. when his/her vehicle lights are on). Video will be streamed to a monitor in the officer’s vehicle so that the officer can view what is happening on all sides without having to turn his/her head. Additionally, the video will be live streamed to the web app so that the officer’s superiors can monitor and react to rapidly changing and safety-critical events.

Beyond the live streaming, 360LifeStream aims to offer one other function: video storage and playback. Recordings of all incidents will be kept and stored for review, use in resolving cases, and for purposes of accountability. They will be accessible through the web app that will provide easy ways to filter and search through recordings.

We do not want to redefine how police officers communicate with each other, nor do we want to introduce new work to document or manage stored recordings. The basic recording and video playback systems should be effortless, simple and intuitive. Extensive functionality beyond that such as commenting or chatting is outside of the scope of this project.

We believe that this project has the potential to make a difference, and we hope to achieve that by focusing on the core functionality that will empower law enforcement agencies and capture the truth.

Tweet

Protect lives and know what really happened with 360LifeStream: live streamed and saved 360 degree videos of all police incidents