King City, California first agency to implement Viridian Gun Cameras also in use by LA Port Police and approved by LA County

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – June 23, 2020 – The King City, California Police Department has deployed the FACT Duty™ Weapon-Mounted Camera (WMC™). As transparency in Law Enforcement once again becomes a critical need at this juncture in society today, Chief Robert Masterson and the department have the only technology and tool dedicated to capturing Officer Involved Shootings.

King City is in Monterey County of Central California and sits almost equidistant from several large, major California cities on the banks of the Salinas River. King City is the first department in California to complete implementation of the FACT Duty which is in various stages of testing and implementation in over 40 states across the country.

“The Weapon-Mounted Cameras were purchased and implemented to capture use of force incidents where officers drew their firearms or were involved in an Officer Involved Shooting,” said King City Police Captain Keith Boyd. “As we have all seen, the country, the community and the world expect objective and immediate evidence of Officer Involved Shootings. And this gun camera does just that. They complement our body worn cameras and we see them as a benefit in modern policing.”

Viridian has created an important category for law enforcement with the Weapon-Mounted Camera. This distinctive camera provides an unobstructed view of critical use-of-force events from the end of the firearm, addressing limitations officers can face with body cameras.

“We commend Chief Masterson and the King City Police for being on the leading edge of law enforcement,” Viridian President and CEO, Brian Hedeen, said.  “California has one of the largest number of officers in the country, so this is absolutely needed. Our technology can be a supplement or alternative to body cameras as a mandatory evidentiary tool to provide the critical evidence in an officer involved shooting.”

The highly advanced WMC employs a 1080p full-HD digital camera with a microphone and 500 lumen tactical light. Viridian’s proprietary INSTANT-ON® technology automatically activates the camera and microphone whenever the officer draws the firearm from its holster. Not only does this eliminate risk of failure to manually turn on the camera during a critical event, but it also keeps the officer from fumbling with cumbersome equipment.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – May 20, 2020 – Earlier this year, evidence from the FACT Duty™ Weapon-Mounted Camera (WMC™) was presented for the first time in an officer-involved shooting (OIS) trial. The social media power and public interest in Weapon-Mounted Cameras became evident after news of the trial in Vernon, Texas broke. The video of the incident, including a direct comparison of incident gun camera footage to body cam footage, has been viewed more than five million times on YouTube and was shared with a world-wide audience of more than 75 million people through mainstream media coverage.

The WMC provided the critical evidence for the case in Wilbarger County, Texas by showing the defendant pointing a sawed-off shotgun at Vernon Police Corporal T.J. Session during an exchange of gunfire in which both Corporal Session and the defendant were shot and wounded. This was the first time an officer-involved shooting was captured by a gun camera. Body camera and dash camera video was also available from the incident, but the Viridian FACT Duty provided the only unfettered evidence of the defendant reaching for a weapon and subsequently shooting the officer. The defendant was convicted by the jury of aggravated assault on a public official and sentenced to 40 years in prison.

“The defense team brought up several questions regarding the details of the event that the Body Camera footage was insufficient to answer,” said Viridian General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer, Matthew Plowman, who was part of the Viridian team attending the trial. “The gun camera footage provided the key evidence that led to the jury convicting the defendant in exactly 16 minutes. This is an example of how the WMC is a critical risk management tool for law enforcement agencies and the municipalities they serve in every corner of the country.”

“We invented the FACT Duty after seeing communities literally torn apart because of a lack of evidence in officer involved shootings,” said Viridian President and CEO Brian Hedeen. “Seeing our gun camera play a key role in such a life-altering event was even more validation for the efforts of our entire team to get this to market and in the hands of as many officers as possible. It also rewards the trust of so many agencies across the country. To see the recent coverage and response online has also been amazing. Literally in a matter of hours, more than one million people saw this video on YouTube alone—which clearly showed how justified and heroic Corporal Session’s actions were that day—and how engaged the public is on this topic.

“We know this is something that is essential for modern policing. The public demands and deserves to know what really happened—and police departments and municipalities benefit from the openness and visibility as well. And the full scope of events captured by our gun camera alongside body cams and dash cams was very powerful. It showed in a real-world event that our technology provides a new and needed perspective, no matter what other video or evidence-gathering devices are present. And agencies across the country have responded. The number of departments that called after seeing the YouTube videos and news coverage has been astounding.”

More information on FACT Duty WMCs can be found at Gun-Camera.com. Viridian offerings are available at ViridianWeaponTech.com.