Samsung is marketing the Galaxy Z Flip phones as police body cameras

A new blog post from Samsung highlights how its Galaxy Z Flip series devices are being received by law enforcement. The line of portable portable devices was part of a pilot program at Kimberling City Police and Indian Point Police in Missouri two years ago to test how electronic devices can improve the daily operations of the forces. According to Samsung, this system was the first time that a foldable device was used by the police as a body camera. After the pilot program ended, two additional police departments signed on to use the Flip devices as body cameras. Solutions for those screening tests are also being extended to 25 municipal police departments in five states.

The Flip devices used for police surveillance were customized in collaboration with Visual Labs, a company that repurposes mobile devices for use as body and dash cams. The change, like redesigning the volume button to launch the camera, was intended to make it easier and faster to start recording in the field, according to Samsung.

It's a surprising use case that Samsung emphasized to its US audience. The Verge took to the blog post and was quick to quote the investigation from ProPublica again The New York Times which showed how local policies can oppose a good number of body cameras, delaying or preventing the release of images.

That said, Samsung isn't the only tech company involved in making its products part of the law. Amazon-owned smart doorbell company Ring had policies (and backtracked) on how it would share with officials. There are also broader issues emerging about how law enforcement is using technology like facial recognition and drones.