DETROIT (WXYZ) — "We're still a little bit behind the times," said Michigan State Police 1st Lt. Michael Shaw when talking to 7 Action News about the current camera system troopers use to deliver body cam and in-car videos back to base.
Currently, troopers have to drive back to their posts when the computer drives are full and import the video, an uploading process that can take up to 30 minutes.
"That whole time, they are not on the road," said Shaw.
The system upgrade, that is included in the governor's 2019 budget proposal, would cost an estimated $2.3 million dollars and stream video back to their bases in real time.
Shaw said it would be rare that the live stream would be used by supervisors to monitor a chase in progress because, in most cases, troopers self-terminate pursuits and most don't last longer than 30 seconds to a minute.
But the improved technology is expected to eliminate inefficiencies, shorten the time it takes to supply videos requested under the Freedom of Information Act, and eliminate the risk of an employee manipulating or losing video evidence.
Click on the video to hear more about the proposal.
