Samsung has begun framing its Galaxy Z Flip line of foldable smartphones in an unexpected way: as a police body-camera. More specifically, the tech giant has revealed the existence of a six-month pilot program in Missouri that involved two police departments (Kimberling City Police and the Indian Point Police) integrating new Galaxy Z Flip devices into their daily operations.
To be fair, these were not the typical Z Flip available to consumers. Samsung worked with Visual Labs, “a leading body camera solution provider”, to customize the devices for law enforcement. This included “remapping the external volume button to start the body camera recordings in urgent situations,” as well as programming the body camera function to automatically trigger when “detecting high speed while pursuing a suspect or when connected to the dash-cam solution, through the activation of emergency lights.”
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“Officers were equipped with Samsung Galaxy Z Flip series smartphones to help them find efficiencies in their work through several methods,” says Samsung. “This included their use as a body-worn camera to promote transparency, marking the first time that police have used a foldable device in this way.”
According to Samsung, results at the program’s conclusion were successful enough to expand use of the devices to the San Benito and Craighead County Sheriff’s departments.
