body camera

English

WOTD – 10 February 2019

Pronunciation

A body camera worn by a police officer in North Charleston, North Carolina

An Iwitness body camera

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbɒdi ˈkæməɹə/, /ˈbɒdi ˈkæmɹə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbɑdi ˈkæməɹə/, /ˈbɑdi ˈkæmɹə/, /ˈbɑɾi-/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bo‧dy ca‧me‧ra

Noun

body camera (plural body cameras)

1. A video recording system worn on the body, typically used by law enforcement officers to record their interactions with the public, and gather video evidence at crime scenes. [from 21st century]

   Synonyms: bodycam, body-worn camera, body-worn video, wearable camera

   • 2015 May 19, Policing Strategies for the 21st Century: Hearing Before the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fourteenth Congress, First Session, May 19, 2015 (Serial No. 114-29), Washington, D.C.: United States Government Publishing Office, →OCLC, page 120:

     How would we ensure that there are common-sense protections and exceptions for law enforcement officers if they are required to wear body cameras? How would privacy considerations for law enforcement, suspects, and the general public be taken into account in instituting the use of body cameras?

   • 2016, Larry J. Siegel, John L[ambert] Worrall, “The Police: Organization, Role, and Function”, in Introduction to Criminal Justice, 16th edition, Boston, Mass.: Cengage Learning, →ISBN, part 2 (The Police and Law Enforcement), page 213:

     The Phoenix Police Department began a body camera study in 2013, funded under the Bureau of Justice Assistance Smart Policing Initiative.

   • 2018 February, Robert Draper, “They are Watching You—and Everything Else on the Planet: Technology and Our Increasing Demand for Security have Put Us All under Surveillance. Is Privacy Becoming just a Memory?”, in National Geographic‎^[1], Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 June 2018:

     The untallied but growing number of people wearing body cameras now includes not just police but also hospital workers and others who aren’t law enforcement officers.

   • 2019 October 23, Rail, page 11:

     Virgin Trains is to equip station and onboard staff with 250 more body cameras, in a bid to further reduce assaults on its staff.

Hyponyms

• copcam

Translations

video recording system worn on the body

• Dutch: bodycam
• French: caméra-piéton (fr) f, caméra d’intervention f, caméra mobile f
• German: Body-Cam f
• Hungarian: testkamera
• Icelandic: búkmyndavél f
• Portuguese: câmara corporal f
• Swedish: kroppskamera (sv) c

Further reading

• body worn video on Wikipedia.Wikipedia