Security Officer Body Cameras

[magicpussycat]

 

I'm just gonna float this idea here and see what everyone thinks

 

From my mapping thread post about my Brig redesign thoughts: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4639&start=10

 

 

- Security Officer Body Cameras

 

Officers would be able to voluntarily turn on/off cameras on their HUD (and so could other people, after they've beaten them unconscious and taken it off of them), so that someone back at the Brig could monitor them on a screen. A secondary feature could be a microphone so that you could get some audio feed as well (similar leaving a station bounced on and putting it in your pocket), keyed into a private channel that feeds back to the monitor room or some such.

 

The point, basically, is to give Sec officers on Para the same advantages that body cameras do in real life: more transparency, more accountability, more safety for both the officer and the crew they interact with. It'll also make it slightly harder as an antag to take out a sec officer who has their body camera on, as their cries for help might lead to the HoS checking their camera remotely (if they turned it on, and if the HoS is in their office, etc).

 

A tertiary feature I'd like to see is a built-in still camera so you take images and print them out later to give to people (of crime scenes, for instance, or of your final moments as you're beaten to death that your comrades eerily discover later while collecting your corpse)

 

I feel that most excessive force and shitcurity nonsense happens because the Sec officers fear for their lives and tend to use more force than necessary to make sure they're safe and that other guy is on the ground. If everyone had cameras, it would provide an extra soft layer of safety for the individual officer that doesn't actually change how difficult they are to tangle with one-on-one. The other reason that most shitcurity happens is because an individual officer is a fun-hating shitler who needs someone to watch him and tell him to stop robusting the clown.

 

[Earthdivine]

While current gen security does do this and sounds like a very nice addition, it would mean sec officers literally could not be killed or messed with, as their cameras do not stop sending feed until their glasses are off. This also makes the AI able to follow any officer it wants as it can look at any camera.

[magicpussycat]

 

While current gen security does do this and sounds like a very nice addition, it would mean sec officers literally could not be killed or messed with, as their cameras do not stop sending feed until their glasses are off.

 

Not entirely :3

 

Firstly, it's a two-part system - you have to have someone on the other end watching them, too, and who's going to sit there for the whole shift and watch every officer every moment of their beat?

 

Secondly, it seems to me that the danger to the antag is roughly equivalent to the already-extant danger of the officer just shouting their name and location over comms. People still have to get to the officer, and by the time they do that the antag's deed will most likely be finished with.

 

Side thought: Maybe the HUD could automatically deactivate upon being stripped? That takes what, a few seconds?

 

This also makes the AI able to follow any officer it wants as it can look at any camera.

 

Well...the AI can already do this, for the most part.

 

It is an interesting point though, since it would mean the AI could follow them literally wherever they go, like a cyborg. That's not something I had really thought about while writing this. I'm not sure what the solution to that is. It would seem strange if the AI couldn't access those cameras, but at the same time, maybe it would make more sense for them not to.

 

My main goal with this thought experiment was to lessen shitcurity and abuse, not make it harder for antags to do antag stuff. My fantasy is the HoS being able to remotely monitor officers so they can see what they are ACTUALLY doing, rather than what the officer or the clown says they are doing.

 

I agree though, it makes sense to place some restraints in there so that it doesn't become an impediment for antags who are just trying to finish their objectives.

 

[Nomzy]

 

Secondly, it seems to me that the danger to the antag is roughly equivalent to the already-extant danger of the officer just shouting their name and location over comms. People still have to get to the officer, and by the time they do that the antag's deed will most likely be finished with.

 

I skimmed over the rest, but this type of glasses would lead to the body's location being found, any method that the antag has on silencing them would be shut down if the officer said "Watch me just in case, Warden." The danger being equal to a officer shouting the antag's name and location is very, very situational.

 

[magicpussycat]

 

any method that the antag has on silencing them would be shut down if the officer said "Watch me just in case, Warden."

 

Presently, you can track an officer's vitals, location, and watch him on camera by sitting down at a security monitor with a handheld crew monitor in your mitts. If an officer thinks they're about to walk into danger and asks someone to watch over them remotely, this is possible already.

 

The only place that it isn't really possible (at least not fully - you can still use a crew monitor) is in maintenance, due to lack of cameras, but perhaps for balance purposes the body cams could just not work in maint (and other areas of "high interference" or whatever)?

 

Like I said, my main goal here is to strike a balance between giving the HoS a way to monitor his officers/curb abuse and not making sec officers super hard to kill.

 

 

The danger being equal to a officer shouting the antag's name and location is very, very situational.

 

Could you explain what you mean by this?

 

[Nomzy]

 

I can't figure any other way to word that.

I feel that vital sensors are enough in terms of this idea, they're very, very effective and (good) doctors check the crew monitoring computer very often. Although I'm not sure if that's the case anymore because frankly, I haven't been on the server that often.

 

[Earthdivine]

 

I believe it's TG that has head mounted cameras already, I know one of the code bases had it. However, their problems are the same ones were talking about here. "DICK JONES IS AN ANTAG" or "HELP AT FURNACE" can both be solved for the attacker by covering his face or moving to a new location. With the HUDS, the attack MUST strip them off or he can't move the body, the AI can jump to them and see them anywhere, including maintence tunnels. Wardens who are bored already look through cameras, and brig physicians who are watching their monitors can run to a monitor when they see vitals dropping.

 

As an aside, we already have these actually, the ERT helmets have this, the commander can watch them through the monitor at their ship.

 

Shitcurity is troublesome for other reasons, a big one being they either done care about what the law actually is (plenty of officers don't have the page open at all when playing), or they just feel like they can get away with it ("If CentCom has a problem they can deal with me back at base")