(VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

The winning company in the tender for bodycams was determined by the Israel Police.

Bynet Communications won the tender, and will supply the police with 8,000 body cameras and connected items. The process of equipping police and the cameras going operational will begin

During the coming year, 8,000 patrol, traffic, municipal policing and police patrols will be equipped with personal body cameras throughout the country. This move will help to increase the transparency of the policeman’s activities and strengthen public trust in the police.

The bodybuilders project of the Israel Police was launched in 2016. Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan, and Police Chief Roni Alshich set the body cameras project in a high priority while diverting significant resources to the project, towards increasing transparency and gaining additional public trust.

During the pilot period, which ended at the beginning of 2017, an accompanying study was conducted to examine the effect of the cameras on policemen and civilians. The study showed that at the pilot stations, there was a 35% drop in public complaints. It was also found that body cameras are a significant tool in the transparency of police activity and restrain all those involved in meetings of civilian police officers.

A year ago, the Israel Police published a large-scale tender for the purchase of body cameras to be used by police officers. During this period, the Director of Police Technologies (MANAT) carried out a large technological survey, in order to examine a technological product suited to the unique needs of the Israel Police. The tender contained various technological parameters, including adjustments to the police systems.

Five companies from Israel went to the police body tender. At the end of a lengthy, complex and professional examination process, which included extensive laboratory tests by experts in the field, the system that best suits the police’s needs and its operational characteristics was chosen, among other requirements of the tender – creating an end-to-end interface without human contact between both the department’s computer and operational systems, while maintaining strict standards in the field of information security, without the ability to erase and edit the material.

“In view of the complexity and importance of the project, all of the Israel Police’s systems have been involved in advancing the project and its compliance with the requirements and needs of the Israel Police. This project is considered a breakthrough in connecting the documentation to the police computer systems, including the ‘Derech HaMelech’ system (computers in police vehicles), and this is a project on a global scale. The department determined that every tender bidder must be an exclusive representative in Israel of the model proposed by the camera manufacturer and meet the requirements and needs of the police in relation to the project.”

As stated, the tenders committee of the Israel Police has announced that Bynet Communications is the winner of the body camera tender. In the near future, the Company will supply the police with the relevant equipment for operation of the system and the cameras in accordance with the terms of the tender.

Upon receipt of all the relevant equipment for the realization of the project, later in the current year and during 2019, a district by district and traffic department will gradually be equipped with a total of approximately 8,000 police officers and policewomen who will work daily with body cameras that document their activities and the various interfaces with the citizens.

The accompanying video, supplied by the Police Spokesman Unit, shows the use of the bodycams during the pilot testing program.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)