Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Wearables
  3. News

NYPD pulls thousands of body cams after one explodes

Trevor Mogg
By
Andrew Burton/Getty Images

For New York cops, fighting crime must be tough enough without having to worry about your body camera exploding.

But that’s exactly what happened to one of the city’s police officers during a shift in Staten Island on Sunday, October 21.

Related Videos

A statement from the NYPD described how the officer noticed something was up when smoke was spotted coming from the camera. Right after removing it, “the device exploded,” the NYPD said.

In the police department’s own words: “Last night, an officer retrieved a body-cam for deployment on a midnight tour and noticed there was smoke exiting from the bottom portal and immediately removed it. After it was safely removed, the device exploded.”

Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident, which is thought to have been caused by the camera’s battery.

All officers with the assigned LE-5 camera — built by body camera specialist Vievu — have been told to stop using it immediately and return the device to their commands.

Some NYPD officers use the LE-4 body camera, and these are deemed to be safe and are therefore not part of the recall. According to the Daily Beast, the incident has led to about 3,000 of the NYPD’s 15,000 body cameras being taken out of service until further notice.

Axon, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based parent company of Vievu, said in a message to the media that “safety is of the utmost importance,” adding that it intends to do “whatever is necessary to quickly and safely resolve this situation.

It’s certainly not the first time a lithium-ion battery inside a portable device has gone up in flames. The battery is at risk of such destructive  behavior if it sustains damage or has a design fault, as famously happened with Samsung’s doomed Galaxy Note 7 smartphone.

If you’re wondering about the potential ferocity of such an explosion, check out this video showing an electronic cigarette going up in flames while it was inside a man’s pants pocket. If the the cop’s camera explosion was anything like that, then the officer clearly had a lucky escape on Sunday.

The NYPD started equipping its officers with body cameras in April 2017. It has previously stated that it wants all of its officers to be equipped with the devices by the end of 2018, but it’s not yet clear if the incident will have any effect on the planned rollout.

“Nothing is more important than the safety of our officers, and equipping the NYPD with the best equipment is a paramount priority,” the police department said in its statement on Sunday.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Digital Trends’ Top Tech of CES 2023 Awards
Best of CES 2023 Awards Our Top Tech from the Show Feature

Let there be no doubt: CES isn’t just alive in 2023; it’s thriving. Take one glance at the taxi gridlock outside the Las Vegas Convention Center and it’s evident that two quiet COVID years didn’t kill the world’s desire for an overcrowded in-person tech extravaganza -- they just built up a ravenous demand.

From VR to AI, eVTOLs and QD-OLED, the acronyms were flying and fresh technologies populated every corner of the show floor, and even the parking lot. So naturally, we poked, prodded, and tried on everything we could. They weren’t all revolutionary. But they didn’t have to be. We’ve watched enough waves of “game-changing” technologies that never quite arrive to know that sometimes it’s the little tweaks that really count.

Read more
Victrola’s Stream Onyx turntable makes listening to vinyl over Sonos more affordable
The Victrola Stream Onyx Sonos-ready turntable on a wood cabinet with a Sonos Five.

Time-honored audio gear pioneer Victrola is continuing its foray into the wireless record player market, today unveiling the Victrola Stream Onyx turntable at CES 2023 in Las Vegas. An updated and more affordable continuation of its popular Stream Carbon turntable launched earlier last year, the Works with Sonos-verified player allows vinyl lovers to spin their records and wirelessly stream the audio over their Sonos speaker system via Wi-Fi. The new player will retail for $600 and will be available for preorder on January 7.

While Bluetooth-enabled turntables offer the convenience of being able to wirelessly play your records through headphones and speakers, Bluetooth is not the ideal way to do this, as you can lose a lot of the details and accuracy from the vinyl because of the digital file compression needed. Most people wouldn't notice the difference, but using a higher-fidelity wireless system like Sonos to do this is a much better option (especially for audiophiles), one that Victrola started making a lot easier with the Stream Carbon turntable last year.

Read more
Amazon Alexa aims to streamline the EV charging experience
Amazon Alexa lists EV charging station locations on a vehicle touchscreen.

While the number of EV charging stations continues to grow, finding a station and paying for charging can still be a hassle. But soon you'll be able to simply ask Alexa.

At CES 2023, Amazon announced Alexa-enabled charging services that will let EV drivers find a charging station via Alexa, as well as pay for charging at certain stations when they become available to drivers in the U.S. later in 2023. You'll need a car with Alexa integration or an accessory like one of Amazon's Echo Auto devices, however.

Read more