Looking for a dash cam to help in taffic stops?

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lostman88

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So, yesterday I was pulled over and the police officer pulled his gun out the second he came out his car and by the time I got my registration he was pointing his gun at me yelling at me for no reason. At the end of the stop he didn't give me a ticket and just warned me because he pulled out his gun on me and lied about all but 1 offense I committed( only thing I did was cut someone off once the light turned green I know it's my fault and I'm stupid for that). But that still doesn't excuse his actions being a pretty naive 18yr old I didn't record the stop or get his name or badge number he even violated my rights and made me give him my phone and if I didn't threaten to go back and give me the tickets. I was able to get his name and report him but enough of my sob story I don't want something like this to happen again so I need a dash cam that has

Good night vision
No need for GPS
Suction cup
Good video quality
somewhat to very discreet
Has the ability to be turned on the officer during a stop so I can record what he does to make sure I have a video just incase something goes wrong
Maybe the ability to upload to cloud storage?(if possible)
 
Man that sound scary :eek:

Most dashcams have good night performance, but on a dark road with no street lights you will be screwed.
At least thats my experience from viewing the footage off my mobius camera in the back, and it is my opinion that night time footage is the main challenge for all dashcams.
Sure with just a little light you will be able to see a lot with current dashcams, but if you get really anal and look at things like licenceplate readability, then it start to drop off pretty quick.
Even a rainy day but otherwise mid day precent a challenge for most cameras today, and you dont have to wait untill the streetlights come on before a licenceplate can only be read on the car that pass you by a little faster than you go.

In circumstances like you describe i think it will be a good idea with a good microfone on the camera too, and some small dash and action cameras lag a little in that regard.

I have no idea how the MIC on the mobius perform i have never used the one in my rear camera, but otherwise the mobius is about as stealthy as it get.

You might allso take a look at the up and comming joovuu X camera, i am helping devlop it, and the MIC problems on the preproduction samples should be fixed.
Within a week i will be spamming the joovuu subforum with footage of the 2 beta sample camera thats in the mail to me, so keep a eye out for that subforum here.

X cam i am not sure if it will come in both a capasitor and battery version, capasitor is best for in car use 24/7/365, and it do come with a suction cup mount that should allow for fairly easy turning of the camera unit.

You could place a mobius on the dashbord permanently filming you in the driver seat and the window beside you ( i think dont they still "sneak" up on the left side of the car ) or have i seen too many hollywood movies.
The mobius is a good little camera and dirt cheap too, just make sure to deal with approved US reseller if you go that route.

O and welcome to the forum lostman88 :)

I am sure some of the other brainacks will chime in too.
 
Real-time wifi uploading is slow with these cams but some do have that feature. Dashcams are meant to give you a record of your own driving; many models take from several seconds to quite few seconds to start recording so unless it's already on you might not capture what you want to in time. And that 'always-on' video is a two-edged sword because it will show anything you've done wrong too, which helps you be a better driver as well as protecting you when someone else's mistake affects you directly.

Right or wrong, many Police forces now enter an unknown situation with guns drawn but pointed downward for safety. I think this is a bit 'over the top' but there it is and all we can do is be sure we don't add to the mindset which causes them to do this. Part of the reason I bought my dashcam was to help protect me from false claims made during a traffic stop but that's not likely to ever be needed unless I give them a reason to pull me over which I try to avoid doing. If it does happen then I cooperate and try not to agitate them making an already bad situation worse. You usually get what you give in this world so I try to be nice because that's what I want given to me.

If all you want to do is film a traffic stop there are better choices than most dashcams can give you. And if you use your dashcam only for this, there will be a question in everyone's mind of why you didn't have it running already? Were you knowingly doing something wrong? Were you trying to create a situation where the Cop would look bad? I'm not saying any of that is true but those thoughts will go through everyone's mind in a courtroom. I'd suggest you give all this some thought because a dashcam will not and can not protect you from yourself.

Phil
 
that's a scary situation. when you stopped, did you turn off your motor and put your hands on the wheel where he could see them? it's not always easy to think clearly when you're pulled over but you really should do everything you can to make the officer feel at ease. if you reached in your glove compartment to get your reg and insurance so it would be ready when he got to your window, that was a wrong move. for all he knows, you could have been reaching for a weapon. I've been rubbed the wrong way by law enforcement in the past but I now work with plenty of LEOs in my current career. most of them just want to do a good job and get back to their families at the end of the day just like everyone else.
 
abarth said:
that's a scary situation. when you stopped, did you turn off your motor and put your hands on the wheel where he could see them? it's not always easy to think clearly when you're pulled over but you really should do everything you can to make the officer feel at ease. if you reached in your glove compartment to get your reg and insurance so it would be ready when he got to your window, that was a wrong move. for all he knows, you could have been reaching for a weapon. I've been rubbed the wrong way by law enforcement in the past but I now work with plenty of LEOs in my current career. most of them just want to do a good job and get back to their families at the end of the day just like everyone else.
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I had my window down half way on my side so he can see inside of my car that's my general way of doing things in my last 3 stops no other cop I have ever encountered acted like he did. I know even with my window down half way he could still think I was doing something wrong but it makes no sense when u can clearly see in my car.

And to Phil I have no problems with recording the way I drive as I know I do not drive recklessly I make sure every lane change, every turn, etc I do insures that I will be good and others on the road will be good as well I will gladly have my dash cam on at all times and then when the stop occurs theirs no reason for me to not have it on. I was being polite to the officer and everything I only argued cause he kept saying false claims IE: I was swerving from the left lane to the right lane to the middle lane then back to the left during RUSH HOUR traffic and in my city it is literally bumper to bumper traffic during those times but even with that the area I was on( a bridge that connects the west and eastern part of the city) had virtually no cars on it my lane was clear until I got to the bottom where the light was. He also tried to say I almost struck 2 cars at different times and he witnessed both but didn't pull me over after. What kind of cop would not pull someone over after almost hitting 2 people? When the stop happened yesterday he didn't even say I did that he just said that less then 30 mins ago while on the phone with my mom( even though my dad was the one who filed the report so how and why would he talk to my mom instead?) everything he says is just B.S so far sadly
 
on to the camera. i have a plan in my head where I'd mount a möbius with a remote lens in the passenger side a-pillar. it would be pretty much undetectable unless you knew what you were looking for. it would be powered to an always-on circuit with a toggle switch wired in. so if I get stopped, all I'd need to do was flip the switch and it would activate the recording even if my key was out of the ignition. maybe I'll do it someday but it'll take me an afternoon for a clean install and about ~$75. with that said, i don't know if I'd have the presence of mind to flip the switch in a nervous situation and if it's worth it when I don't have many specific situations like this in my life. but you can borrow/work off of my plan if it appeals to you. :)
 
abarth said:
on to the camera. i have a plan in my head where I'd mount a möbius with a remote lens in the passenger side a-pillar. it would be pretty much undetectable unless you knew what you were looking for. it would be powered to an always-on circuit with a toggle switch wired in. so if I get stopped, all I'd need to do was flip the switch and it would activate the recording even if my key was out of the ignition. maybe I'll do it someday but it'll take me an afternoon for a clean install and about ~$75. with that said, i don't know if I'd have the presence of mind to flip the switch in a nervous situation and if it's worth it when I don't have many specific situations like this in my life. but you can borrow/work off of my plan if it appeals to you. :)
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well I'm def gonna take this into consideration and might do that hell maybe try to get it implanted into my car so it always face the driver side window then another facing my windshield
 
lostman88 said:
... so I need a dash cam that has ...
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A forward facing, rear mounted Mobius, taped to the headlining, is one possible solution for this type of interaction with the Law. It's unlikely to be spotted by an LEO, none of my passengers have noticed mine...

image.jpg
 
lostman88 said:
...( only thing I did was cut someone off once the light turned green I know it's my fault and I'm stupid for that). But that still doesn't excuse his actions being a pretty naive 18yr old...
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As we should all know by now, there are some awfully dangerous 18yr olds in the world today.

I think I may have been stopped once (ok maybe twice) in the last 30 years or so, and IMO you would be much better off to concentrate on safe (and courteous) driving rather than a camera and CYA.

One fun way to learn to drive safely is to get a motorcycle. You either get smart (or get dead) real fast!

;):eek:
 
While I understand the want to get all fancy about the install, you should really look behind the A-Pillar before you decide on your install. There typically isn't a lot of room and you'd still need to find a place to put the Mobius box. You might be overthinking it.

As far as good night vision, again it will depend on your install. You could always turn on the interior lights, but this could either hurt or help the image. I just watched a video of a burglar trying to break in and they unscrewed the porch light bulb which actually helped with seeing the criminals faces because the light was creating a bright spot.
 
I have been stopped for nothing 1 time, ther excuse was they wanted me to do a breath test, and thats okay i have only driven 200 M DUI when i was young and stupid.
Sadly that day i fogot to turn on the innovv C1 i had in my pocket, would have been a fun little movie comparing a Danish pull over to the ones where ever you are in the world.
Then i have been pulled over 2 times and given a fine for not wearing the seatbelt ( from 1985 to 2005 or so i never used the seatbelt )

Only "lately" have the cops here gotten guns worth mentioning, when i was young they carried a ww1 7.62 mm pea-shooter, and none of the ppl i knew carried anything less then a 9 mm or 38.
Nothing to fear today either, this is Denmark and the cops cant even get ther H&K MP5 SMGs to work ( seem like the rest of the world have no problems in that regard )
 
tomintx said:
As we should all know by now, there are some awfully dangerous 18yr olds in the world today.

I think I may have been stopped once (ok maybe twice) in the last 30 years or so, and IMO you would be much better off to concentrate on safe (and courteous) driving rather than a camera and CYA.

One fun way to learn to drive safely is to get a motorcycle. You either get smart (or get dead) real fast!

;):eek:
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Oh no I never really even drive dangerous that was one of the first few times I cut off someone like that I always just chill on the road
 
Maybe he was nervous about the situation. Its a dangerous jobs a policeman got and to many bad thing can happen. So I guess we as a driver have be extra careful how we act, when we get approach by police. I will also be scared if any point a gun at me, it could miss fire. At least he should have pointed to the side of you.


This has just happen.
 
Viking said:
Maybe he was nervous about the situation. Its a dangerous jobs a policeman got and to many bad thing can happen. So I guess we as a driver have be extra careful how we act, when we get approach by police. I will also be scared if any point a gun at me, it could miss fire. At least he should have pointed to the side of you.


This has just happen.
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**** he may have been nervous but him pulling the gun on me was no big deal it was somewhat justified I wouldve been totally alright if he didn't point it at me. I'm mostly concerned with how he was lying about the whole situation if he gave me the tickets for it I wouldve been screwed completely with no form of proving my innocence. That's another reason I need it as well I don't want to receive false tickets for stuff I didn't do if he just gave me one for cutting that lady off I would've gladly taken it but slapping on those other B.S citations along is a huge no no.

And damn it's sad how it is now a days I would never open fire on a police officer or anything of that sorts I treat all LEO with respect and especially in the area I'm living that's a huge no no thankfully this doesn't happen around my area.
 
Every gun safety course tells you never aim your gun anything unless your intent is to kill/destroy it. You don't try to scare or warn. A muzzle pointed at someone is the last thing they see before you deliver a fatal shot. Never, ever point a gun at someone. Period. Having it drawn and at the ready is one thing - but the second you've aimed it, you're declaring "I'm going to kill you". It matters not to me whether it's a cop or a robber/thug - that is a deadly threat. Scary stuff.
 
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Viking said:
Maybe he was nervous about the situation. Its a dangerous jobs a policeman got and to many bad thing can happen. So I guess we as a driver have be extra careful how we act, when we get approach by police. I will also be scared if any point a gun at me, it could miss fire. At least he should have pointed to the side of you.
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If he's nervous on the job, he shouldn't be a police officer. There wasn't a police officer draft, he made the job choice and perhaps for the wrong reason; control.

There is no such thing as pointing to the side of you, he could accidentally shoot a passer by. You either have it holstered, pointed down, or aimed at your target
 
MiiHere said:
If he's nervous on the job, he shouldn't be a police officer. There wasn't a police officer draft, he made the job choice and perhaps for the wrong reason; control.

There is no such thing as pointing to the side of you, he could accidentally shoot a passer by. You either have it holstered, pointed down, or aimed at your target
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There are good cops and bad cops.
Bad cops are either because they are really bad person or because they are scared or because they can't understand the situation and use deadly force.
Either way, bad cops need to get out of the force.

I've been pulled over few times and the cop never even touched the gun.
Even at 2 am in the morning in a lonely dark highway, he just had his hand on the gun side just in case but that's about it.
Scared cop is more dangerous than a violent criminal as he'll kill/hurt innocent persons and don't even get charged ever and even if charged, the union/city will pay victims on his behalf and he'll go his merry way. :mad:

As for camera, maybe a portable action cam like Mobius, nautilus that you turn on when pulled over as most other cameras will turn off when key is out of the key hole.
 
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