Axon, a Valley company that makes Taser and other policing products, announced new features Wednesday to help law enforcement agencies modernize and reform.
In addition to Tasers, Axon makes body-worn cameras, virtual reality training modules, and cloud-based video management systems.
Seeing the nationwide police protests after the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, Axon held what it called a “sprint for justice." Workers paused their regular tasks, and they developed eight new features for their products.
“We took a step back and said, ‘Well, rather than just talk about what we would do, what could we actually do that would have meaningful impact,’” said Rick Smith, Axon Founder and CEO.
One new feature is an automatic transcription service for body-cam videos stored in Axon's cloud service. If a Taser is used or certain words are said during the video, it would automatically be flagged for supervisor review.
“One example would be if somebody is using a racial slur, we can transcribe videos now and surface those videos, so a supervisor can take a look at it,” Smith said.
Other Axon improvements include adjustable-brightness LED lights for body cameras, an option to push edited police videos directly to social media, and a use-of-force dashboard.
Axon tells ABC15 these new features will soon be ready for customers as free updates.
