WatchGuard Video announced today the release of Version 6.0 software for the WatchGuard DV-1 police in-car video system. The Version 6.0 upgrade includes a powerful new patent pending feature called "Record-After-the-Fact" that allows officers to retrieve buffered video not previously recorded to a DVD.
WatchGuard says this feature goes far beyond the traditional pre-event video feature common in many digital in-car video systems. Record-After-the-Fact provides the ability to create a new video recording event up to several days after the time the event actually occurred. Many officers can recall times when important events occurred, but the in-car video camera was not recording. Furthermore, most agencies can point to multiple court cases that were lost because the video camera never recorded the event. At times, a patrol vehicle may happen to drive by a location where suspects have been loitering prior to committing a crime. With Record-After-the-Fact, such unexpected encounters can be recalled to assist in an investigation or to exonerate an officer.
The WatchGuard DV-1 is the only in-car video system on the market that uses two separate recording drives to enable this capability. Triggered video events are recorded onto a DVD disc, while simultaneously the system is always recording video in the background to the internal hard drive. Now, officers can easily access the video buffered on the internal hard drive, which usually goes back several days, and define a new recording event simply by entering a start and stop point.
In Texas, an agency was able to use the video from its DV-1's hard drive to help identify a second suspect from a bank robbery. An officer was in route to the bank, when he happened to pass by the vehicle later identified as the suspect's vehicle. The hard drive video clearly showed a female passenger that was not reported by witnesses at the scene. This unexpected video evidence proved critical in making a subsequent arrest.
Another officer said: "WatchGuard really saved the day for me. When I got back to my car, I realized I hadn't initiated a recording of the traffic stop. Since the DV-1's always recording in the background, I was able to go back and make a recording of the event. It turned out to be a high profile case, and thanks to the video I had the evidence I needed to exonerate my character."
As with all WatchGuard software upgrades to date, Version 6.0 is provided free of charge and has already been mailed to every WatchGuard DV-1 customer. In addition, this upgrade is compatible with all hardware generations of the DV-1; even the first generation systems manufactured in 2005.