Introducing the Toughbook Arbitrator 360°

Today Panasonic unveiled a breakthrough in-car digital video system for law enforcement: the Toughbook Arbitrator 360°. It maximizes officer safety by capturing a 360-degree view surrounding an entire police vehicle, through simultaneous recording on up to five cameras.  The process of recording and transferring evidence is fully automated, enabling officers to focus on their duties. Panasonic also developed the software supporting the Arbitrator 360°, offering complete quality control that’s fully customizable to each agency’s requirements.

Live video streaming capabilities are built in to the Arbitrator 360° as an additional safety feature. Police dispatchers can now monitor what’s happening in each patrol car from headquarters.  If an officer is in trouble, such as an altercation during a traffic stop, the dispatcher can remotely zoom the camera for a better picture, or change the frames-per-second bit rate for more details.

The Lincoln (NE) Police Department has been testing the new Arbitrator 360°, and was pleased with the results.

“The Toughbook Arbitrator 360° has given us a true end-to-end solution for not just recording video, but storing, organizing and accessing video, as well,” said Sergeant Todd Beam, Lincoln Police Department. “In addition, we quickly realized the benefits of deploying multiple in-car cameras by disproving an internal affairs complaint using evidence captured on a rear-facing camera. From our perspective, a room full of DVDs is no better than a room full of VHS tapes, so the ability to manage and transfer all video evidence digitally is a huge bonus. Our patrol officers found the Arbitrator 360° software interface very easy to use, and were up and running with very minimal training.”

See below for a video demonstrating how police departments are using the Arbitrator 360°, and visit the Toughbook Web site for more information on the product.