- Cameras are being produced by Viridan Weapon Technologies, which says they will improve accountability
- It follows the death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, who was shot by an officer in Minneapolis
- Company president Brian Hedeen said the cameras would provide ‘that missing piece of evidence’
A new mini-camera attached to the barrel of a gun could soon provide important evidence in police-related shootings.
The new technology has been designed by Viridan Weapon Technologies and a number of police departments have been offered the chance to trial it.
The three inch camera points in the same direction as the weapon.
The new technology has been designed by Viridan Weapon Technologies and a number of police departments have been offered the chance to trial it
Brian Hedeen, president of the manufacturing company, told Star Tribune: ‘As we’ve seen, there have been a lot of high-profile incidents over the last few years where it’s not really clear what happened, and this is meant to provide that missing piece of evidence.’
Justine Ruszczyk Damond was shot dead by police on July 15
He revealed that he hoped they would be available for police departments to use by October.
West Hennepin public safety director Gary Kroells said the device could have helped shed light on the shooting of Justine Ruszczyk Damond.
She died on July 15 after police were called to her Minneapolis home reporting a possible sex assault.
Neither of the officers involved in the shooting had body cameras operating at the time the fatal shots were fired.
He told KSTP: ‘It allows for human error or mistakes to not occur, we’re all human and in this particular case anytime you pull your weapon out it could be a deadly force situation so we’d like to have that on video.’
Each camera would cost around $500 to produce.
The company has dubbed the cameras, which have a built-in light, Fact Duty.