US Police Adopt 'GalZ Flip' Body Cam: "Lightweight and Great Image Quality"

US Kimballing City Police Piloted Galaxy Z Flip 2 Years Ago
Expansion Planned to 25 Police Stations in 5 States
Optimized for Police to Record Bodycam Without Unlocking Phone

U.S. police are using the foldable phone 'Galaxy Z Flip series' as body cameras. A body camera is a small video recording device worn on the body to record surrounding situations.

A US police officer wearing Samsung Electronics' foldable phone 'Galaxy Z Flip series' as a body cam / Photo by Samsung Electronics

According to Samsung Electronics Newsroom on the 1st, the Kimberling City Police in Missouri, USA, introduced the Galaxy Z Flip series as body cameras two years ago and conducted a pilot operation. This is the first case of using a foldable device as a body camera.

After a six-month pilot operation, the introduction of the Z Flip expanded to the San Benito Police in Texas and the Craighead County Sheriff's Department in Arkansas. Currently, efforts are underway to expand adoption to police departments in 25 cities across 5 states in the U.S. The series currently in use are the Galaxy Z Flip3, 4, and 5.

The reason U.S. police chose the Z Flip series as body cameras is because they are lightweight, compact, and highly portable. Additionally, the variety of features such as high-resolution cameras also played a role. The Z Flip series is used for crime scene evidence recording, witness interview audio recording, and real-time police officer location tracking using GPS. Recorded videos are immediately saved to cloud servers and can be streamed in real time to police control centers.

Unlike regular products, the device is optimized for police work, allowing body camera recording to start in emergency situations simply by pressing the volume button without needing to turn on the display or open the smartphone.

Todd Lemoine, Chief of Kimberling City Police Department, said, "We chose the Galaxy Z Flip because of its many advantages," adding, "The efficiency of work and strengthened communication among teams through the Z Flip have significantly improved response and investigation efforts."