Sheriff Tom Ridnour of the Kit Carson Country, Colorado Sheriff’s office has been hard at work attempting to equip his officers with Viridian FACT Duty weapon-mounted cameras making them the first Colorado Agency to do so. The Viridian weapon-mounted cameras made their debut at SHOT Show 2017 and have slowly been making their way into various law enforcement agencies.

First Colorado Agency Implements Viridian Gun Cameras

First Colorado Agency Implements Viridian Gun Cameras

The Kit Carson County Sheriff’s office is responsible for over 2,000 square miles along the Kansas/Colorado border. As of March 1st of this year, the Viridian FACT Duty cameras have been officially deployed by the agency. This also happened to be right around the first use of a Viridian camera in an officer-involved shooting down in Texas where the camera was used as evidence to show that the defendant was pointing a sawed-off shotgun at the officer involved.

First Colorado Agency Implements Viridian Gun Cameras

The advanced weapon-mounted camera (WMC) makes use of a full-HD 1080p digital camera that also contains a microphone and 500 lumens tactical light. Some models of the FACT duty camera also contain a laser. The camera also features an INSTANT-ON® technology which activates the camera as soon as the officer draws the weapon from its holster. This eliminates the risk of officers neglecting to turn on the cameras as well as having to deal with extra equipment in a life-threatening situation.

First Colorado Agency Implements Viridian Gun Cameras

Viridian CEO Brian Hedeen was pleased with the Sheriff’s decision to add the FACT WMC’s to the department’s list of equipment stating “Our technology can be a supplement or alternative to body cameras as a mandatory evidentiary tool to provide the critical evidence in an officer-involved shooting. We commend Sheriff Ridnour for being the first to deploy in Colorado and wish him and his deputies the best during these unprecedented and challenging times for all first responders.”

First Colorado Agency Implements Viridian Gun Cameras

The subject of law-enforcement involved shootings can be a touchy subject for many and I personally believe that duty cameras whether they be on weapons or mounted on the officers themselves can be a great help when dealing with these types of situations. For more information on the Viridian FACT Duty Gun Camera, you can visit the Viridian website.