Report: Mobile Video Surveillance Market For Police Cars To Grow 6.5 Percent Per Year To 2013
Law enforcement agencies across the United States are increasingly installing video surveillance equipment in police cars. Despite cuts in federal and state funding over 2009 and 2010, the market for mobile video surveillance equipment in police cars is forecast to grow at an average of 6.5 percent a year to 2013, according to a new report from IMS Research.
While funding cuts are expected to slow market growth over the next two years, the long term outlook is optimistic. Currently U.S. police agencies can apply for approximately $4 billion in grant funding. Additionally, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is likely to provide funding for U.S. police agencies, driving growth from 2011 onwards.
There is also plenty of opportunity in this market, with 18,000 independent municipalities in the United States, each capable of purchasing mobile video surveillance equipment. With more than 40 percent of the 450,000 police cars in America already fitted with digital video surveillance, penetration in the United States is higher than in countries like the UK, where video systems are installed predominantly in traffic cars. This has resulted in the United States accounting for more than 80 percent of the global market.
“Video surveillance in police cars is becoming much more common as police departments see the benefits it can bring,” said IMS Research Market Analyst Niall Jenkins. “The video is primarily used as evidence, with watermarking or similar verification techniques used to guarantee that the video has not been tampered with. However, video can also be used to defend the conduct of a police officer against any complaints made. It is also possible for the officer to flag a recording for review back at the station. This is usually part of a training and evaluation program.”