Google Glass Tipped for Police, First Responders

Mutualink, Inc. is pitching Google Glass as the next big thing in assisting emergency personnel, namely firemen and police personnel, in the course of their everyday duties. At last, a place where Google Glass will be welcomed.

Mutualink also enables multimedia file sharing, and when this is combined with Google Glass, first responders could receive and view documents, images and schematics in real time.

Click to expand...

That would be awesome.

I somehow doubt the hardware in Google Glass is on par with the hardware firefighters already use for HUD. What temperatures are they rated at, again?

MajorDomo said:

At last, a place where Google Glass will be welcomed.

Click to expand...

Not necessarily. After the Asiana plane crash San Fran's fire chief banned helmet cams, claiming it to be an invasion of privacy. Many feel it's just a way for public safety departments to cover their rear ends when stuff goes wrong.

It would not only protect the public safety department's rears it would, more importantly, make me feel safer when dealing with them. It could help to curtail abuses power, which has gotten out of hand as a new generation of self-entitled cops feel the world is out to get them. These should only be available for review after a complaint is logged, protecting people's privacy during accidents.

I think it would make a great tool. Cop standing on a train looks over crowd. Facial recognition kicks in they know who has a criminal background, who has a warrant, what class and who is likely to be dangerous or unstable. Makes sense to me. Hell I would want that app. They get a pop up that so and so is on a xyz watch list or that so and so has been identified and needs to be picked up for xyz offense. They can then choose to carry out the tasks available or not. Couple that with an RFID tagged card (Or something more secure hopefully) And they will know that the guy in the suite to the right happens to be carrying credit cards from 8 different people and ask to have a conversation with him or tag him to be picked up when he gets off the train and questioned as to the nature of it.

Sure a lot of nightmare scenarios come up too. So and so likes to look at midget snuff German schister films on their smart phone while at the temple.. or what have you...

EchtoGammut said:

It would not only protect the public safety department's rears it would, more importantly, make me feel safer when dealing with them. It could help to curtail abuses power, which has gotten out of hand as a new generation of self-entitled cops feel the world is out to get them. These should only be available for review after a complaint is logged, protecting people's privacy during accidents.

Click to expand...

I support this. It may not be feasible to give all 35,000 NYPD officers a camera and keep track of videos, but smaller departments would make sense.

heatlesssun said:

Not necessarily. After the Asiana plane crash San Fran's fire chief banned helmet cams, claiming it to be an invasion of privacy. Many feel it's just a way for public safety departments to cover their rear ends when stuff goes wrong.

Click to expand...

Groundless lawsuits have forced the issue. Cheaper to adopt cameras than to settle ridiculous lawsuits.

EchtoGammut said:

It would not only protect the public safety department's rears it would, more importantly, make me feel safer when dealing with them. It could help to curtail abuses power, which has gotten out of hand as a new generation of self-entitled cops feel the world is out to get them. These should only be available for review after a complaint is logged, protecting people's privacy during accidents.

Click to expand...

Walk a mile in a cops shoes and see what it's really like before complaining about "abuses of power" and whether or not you feel safe dealing with them. Just because you think you're a good person with nothing for the cops to "bother" you about doesn't mean the next guy isn't wanted, have a trunk full of heroine, or has just beat up his wife/gf.

Grimlaking said:

I think it would make a great tool. Cop standing on a train looks over crowd. Facial recognition kicks in they know who has a criminal background, who has a warrant, what class and who is likely to be dangerous or unstable. Makes sense to me. Hell I would want that app. They get a pop up that so and so is on a xyz watch list or that so and so has been identified and needs to be picked up for xyz offense. They can then choose to carry out the tasks available or not. Couple that with an RFID tagged card (Or something more secure hopefully) And they will know that the guy in the suite to the right happens to be carrying credit cards from 8 different people and ask to have a conversation with him or tag him to be picked up when he gets off the train and questioned as to the nature of it.

Sure a lot of nightmare scenarios come up too. So and so likes to look at midget snuff German schister films on their smart phone while at the temple.. or what have you...

Click to expand...

sounds like something CUG would say

while I can't say I wouldn't enjoy something like that, the potential for abuse is insane

but, since this is where our society is driving technology it's getter to know what's coming down the pipeline so you can prepare for the worst

A lot of departments already use cameras and that doesn't change shit. For cops especially who already have dash cams and some even have chest mounted mini-cams that record everything they say, do, and hear and it STILL doesn't change anything.

Perfect example here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIGIcg27-0g

Police smacks the guy for no reason after he, the cop, steps up to the guy that gets slapped. All while being recorded on his personal cop cam...what kind of trouble did the cop get in to? Not a damn thing.

People have to remember that cops are there for other cops. It doesn't really matter what they do because internal affairs are there to help the cops and not get sued. Hell, there's a cop in my state (Clayton County, GA) that has over FIFTEEN assault records...nearly beat a man to death that was going in a diabetic coma...again, hasn't gotten in trouble. Not even a single paid suspension.

So in the end...for cops...it won't make a difference. The government is moving into a more police state anyways so these problems will keep getting worse while less and less will be done about it.

As far as firemen go they already have their own system so it would only be paramedics that could use it really...and hospitals kill thousands upon thousands annually so I don't think it'll matter there either.

Bah...shit's fucked and isn't getting any better is the general thing here.

kirbyrj said:

Walk a mile in a cops shoes and see what it's really like before complaining about "abuses of power" and whether or not you feel safe dealing with them. Just because you think you're a good person with nothing for the cops to "bother" you about doesn't mean the next guy isn't wanted, have a trunk full of heroine, or has just beat up his wife/gf.

Click to expand...

It doesn't matter. If you aren't doing anything wrong you shouldn't be fucked with. PERIOD. You shouldn't be approached, talked to, or anything at all. If no law is being broken that means that no officer should bother you.

If the cop is having a bad day or something, again, NOT MY PROBLEM. They are there to enforce the LAWS not go around doing what ever they want to based on how they feel at that particular moment. This is why they are called "law enforcement"...not gang bangers or bullies.

I don't have to walk in the shoes of a cop to tell you that a lot of them are fucked up individuals that bring WAY too much of their personal fucked up baggage with them when they go to work. Plus, with a lot of cops you already have to be at least slightly power hungry or an asshole to be a cop to begin with. I know I could never be a cop because I'm not that much of a dick. Granted this doesn't apply to all of them, but in my experience, where it's been me that calls them, even I've gotten shit from them for no reason.

So as the saying goes, fuck the police. Until they are actually held accountable for their actions (which 99% of the time they aren't) or don't get funded and paid based on how many tickets they get or if they meet their monthly quota then I will continue to think of them for what they are, a powerful corrupt institution that's here for the money and not the common good.

You can go against this all you want, in the end it doesn't change the fact that it's true.

Until you've been a cop, you have no idea what kind of nonsense you have to deal with. It's not about "having a bad day" it's about "going home at the end of the day."

The great thing about America is that even though you hate the police...when you have a problem, we still have to show up at your door and fix your shit.

Grimlaking said:

I think it would make a great tool. Cop standing on a train looks over crowd. Facial recognition kicks in they know who has a criminal background, who has a warrant, what class and who is likely to be dangerous or unstable. Makes sense to me. Hell I would want that app. They get a pop up that so and so is on a xyz watch list or that so and so has been identified and needs to be picked up for xyz offense. They can then choose to carry out the tasks available or not. Couple that with an RFID tagged card (Or something more secure hopefully) And they will know that the guy in the suite to the right happens to be carrying credit cards from 8 different people and ask to have a conversation with him or tag him to be picked up when he gets off the train and questioned as to the nature of it.

Click to expand...

No matter how much you try to sugar coat this, it's still a huge moon of crap. God, I hate cop/military types.

kirbyrj said:

Until you've been a cop, you have no idea what kind of nonsense you have to deal with. It's not about "having a bad day" it's about "going home at the end of the day."

The great thing about America is that even though you hate the police...when you have a problem, we still have to show up at your door and fix your shit.

Click to expand...

And I'll chime in a say, So What?

You've made the choice to be a cop.... And in theory this is a noble career to "serve and protect" as a *public servant*...

But sadly, many cops either consider themselves to *be* "the law," or even worse see themselves as above it,.. and frankly, imho, the moment they take that attitude they lose any and all privileges appointed to them to do their job and become nothing more than just another fascist dick with a god complex... and their authority should become null and void.

I've met and dealt with some good cops in my life, but the sad fact is they are few and far between...

The point has come and past that all police officers should be required to wear video cameras 100% of the time that they are on the job. Turn them off, lose the badge. Plain and simple.

There is a reason people distrust the police (and, yes, even hate them in some cases... generally in areas where that hate has become justified by police abuse and corruption) and that is because we live in an ever increasing police state where "innocent until proven guilty" and "equal justice under the law" are every day further lost to a "justice" system that is corrupt and broken to its core...

And one last thing...

My rights & civil liberties (and those of my fellow citizens) should always outweigh the "authority" given to the police, military, government, etc...

So when you make a stop, think a little bit more about those things instead of being so paranoid or working to make your quota of illegal taxation... I mean ticket revenue

What a bogus hypothetical implementation of a beta product by a third party company that is pretending to add value.

"Mutualink, however, said that its technology would allow for departments with incompatible radio systems or communications devices to communicate with one another during an emergency"
"Mutualink also enables multimedia file sharing, and when this is combined with Google Glass, first responders could receive and view documents, images and schematics in real time"

It's a computer, doesn't Google Glass already do this or have the capability to? It sounds like they're re-inventing the wheel (apps) and trying to dance around the term "app".

dgz said:

No matter how much you try to sugar coat this, it's still a huge moon of crap. God, I hate cop/military types.

Click to expand...

I'm curious how I am sugar coating anything. I think the ability for a police officer to determine quickly if the person he is dealing with has a record, has a conceal and carry, and other potential dangers about the individual are valuable.

We need to be able to trust our keepers to some degree. They are police and we as a society have proven that we need them to remain peaceful.

The additions to the water just make us more mellow.

kirbyrj said:

Groundless lawsuits have forced the issue. Cheaper to adopt cameras than to settle ridiculous lawsuits.

Walk a mile in a cops shoes and see what it's really like before complaining about "abuses of power" and whether or not you feel safe dealing with them. Just because you think you're a good person with nothing for the cops to "bother" you about doesn't mean the next guy isn't wanted, have a trunk full of heroine, or has just beat up his wife/gf.

Click to expand...

So cops shouldn't use judgment and treat minor infractions or deal with witnesses differently than they would a violent offender? Is it really necessary to taze an octogenarian? More precisely an 86 year old woman?

http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/06/24/28330.htm

Yes, we need protection from those sorts of abuses.

There's something else too. To this point, everybody has been assuming that the facial recognition is perfect and no mistakes are ever made. Obviously this is a completely flawed assumption. Innocent people are going to get picked up because 1) the facial recognition is inaccurate and they just happen to look like someone else and 2) because someone edits the database with the wrong value and almost instantly, every police officer in the country is now looking for the wrong guy and harassing him. So the potential for problems is MASSIVE.

Rialto, CA, Police all wear cameras and public incidents drop

The results, in Farrar's word, were "truly amazing." As reported by the Times in April, the year-long trial period ending in February saw an 88 percent drop in complaints against police and a 60 percent reduction in uses of force by the police. And these steep declines occurred even though the cameras were in use only about half the time. (A computer randomly selected which shifts on which days would wear the cameras.)

Click to expand...

Accountability is a good thing no matter which end of the law you are on.

kirbyrj said:

The great thing about America is that even though you hate the police...when you have a problem, we still have to show up at your door and fix your shit.

Click to expand...

In a sense, but it's usually only after the fact to take pictures and collect evidence. You know as well as I do, the SCOTUS ruled the police have no responsibility of 'protecting' citizens.

westrock2000 said:

Rialto, CA, Police all wear cameras and public incidents drop

Accountability is a good thing no matter which end of the law you are on.

Click to expand...

The "character of a man is what he does when nobody is looking" is a very appropriate phrase. People act differently when others are watching. People act differently when they have something to lose. This is no different than the German safety engineer said the biggest thing that could be done to reduce automobile deaths is to put a big ass spike right on the steering wheel aimed at your chest.