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October 28, 2020

Police body cam maker unveils new features to curb misconduct

Photo | CNN Business An Axon body camera.
By Chauncey Alcorn, CNN Business

The nation's leading provider of police body cameras on Wednesday unveiled new features intended to help law enforcement supervisors better monitor officers and curb problematic behavior — changes the company says were motivated by the killing of George Floyd earlier this year.

Axon body cams captured Floyd's death at the hands of four fired Minneapolis Police officers. The company, which also makes Taser stun guns, said the incident horrified its workforce, compelling its engineers to brainstorm ways to prevent such situations and maximize transparency when they do occur.

"We are working on really important social problems," Axon CEO Rick Smith said in an interview. "We do have a responsibility to do it right."

The centerpiece of Axon's latest features is its "Priority-Ranked Video Audit" software, which the company says helps supervisors sift through the thousands of hours of body cam footage many of them receive on a weekly basis to zero in on potential abuses of power.

The software uses an artificial intelligence algorithm that identifies keywords, such as profanity, racial slurs or other red flags. Axon Chief Product Officer Jeff Kunins says the video audit system helps solves one of the major issues police supervisors face in actually catching officer misbehavior.

"The amount of footage is so overwhelmingly large, it's like finding a needle in a haystack," Kunins said.

Axon has also designed a "Use-of-Force Dashboard," which creates interactive reports on incidents in which a department's officers have forcibly restrained suspects.

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