Dash Cam for CCW

[Craig_AR]

This thread has been all about CCW and dash cams, which only help you while in or near your car. For better self-witness protection when carrying, I picked up a ballpoint pen video cam on Amazon for about $30. I keep it in my breast pocket, ready to activate. Even if it misses the view, it will record the audio. The downside is that you have to turn it on and then activate the camera; if you try to record all the time, like a dash cam, you will burn through the battery charge quickly. The video quality is excellent; last year I recorded a wedding with it unobtrusively in my pocket, and gave the video to the couple.
Another option, which I know a few CCW holders use, is to keep a tiny audio recorder on a neck chain, and activate it when situation warrants. Even just audio is better than nothing as supporting evidence.

By the way, be sure to know the law in your state concerning one-party or all-party consent. If you are in an all-party state and not in the public when you use a recorder, you can be the one on wrong side of the law.
One recently updated source on the subject issue at
https://www.mwl-law.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/LAWS-ON-RECORDING-CONVERSATIONS-CHART.pdf

Another is at
http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/recording-phone-calls-and-conversations
You can find others online, also.

Finally, recording LEOs on the job is particularly tricky, so check a source like this one:
http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/recording-police-officers-and-public-officials

 

[TRX]

especially with so many guns out there.

It's terrible. Wild guns roam my neighborhood in packs! Poison hasn't worked, and I haven't managed to trap any yet. One of the more vicious packs seems to be led by a battered S&W Model 29 with a herd of mongrel H&R and Iver top-breaks...

 

[WTBguns10kOK]

The advice on this thread is amazingly bad. I suppose its to be expected from people who know nothing about dashcams.

 

[Jeff White]

The advice on this thread is amazingly bad. I suppose its to be expected from people who know nothing about dashcams.

Perhaps you could add your expertise?

 

[Jeb Stuart]

The problem I have with a dash cam in the car is we all have a little dirt on us when it comes to the road. You've NEVER gone 5,10,15mph over the limit? Never cut someone off even by accident? Never swerved or come close to the lines while changing the radio or adjusting the climate?

I wonder how many of the cases where a dash cam proved positive for a road rage victim the attorneys actually went back through the WHOLE length of data on the recorder.


For most folks having a "witness" 24/7 in the car probably isn't in our best interest.

And since when is Road Rage every justified? Hopefully you are not going to be the one in rage and showing it on camera. You would NOT be on trial for going over the speed limit, you would be on trial for murder!

 

[Kendahl]

Here are a couple of news stories about a recent incident in which a video camera looking rearward helped the victim of road rage:
https://www.ketv.com/article/cass-county-deputies-investigate-road-rage-incident/27440048
https://www.ketv.com/article/car-cameras-gain-popularity-as-price-drops/27443750

One morning last year, four teenagers went on a carjacking spree. The oldest stepped in front of a car at a stop sign and pointed a gun at the driver. Although the gun turned out to be a replica, the driver would have been justified in running over him. A video recording from a forward facing camera would have been conclusive proof of the carjacker's guilt and the driver's peril.

According to the second news story, camera systems are getting cheap enough to put one in every vehicle you own.