Mississippi State University encourages the minds it teaches to create and improve the modern technologies around the world; body cameras have seen lots of light in the media recently and seniors at MSU created a triggering system that could help everyone. 
Louie King, Zach DiGennaro, Derek Reeves and Nikhil Lokhand invented iLeAD, Integrated Law Enforcement Automated Documentation, a triggering system that automatically turns on the Wi-Fi enabled  body cameras located on the belt of police officers and near his/her chest to record every instance in a high-stress or high-impact sitaution an officer may encounter. This is their senior design project for computer and electrical engineering.
“If they have to draw their [police officers] gun, the camera turns on,” King said. “We have sensors to determine when the gun is pulled, Taser is pulled, when their heart rate increases and if they start running.”
The idea for this system to work with law enforcement body cameras came from Reeves and his father in law, who was a police officer, after talking about the current body cameras used in the police force today. 
“Police are trained to assess the situation first, not make sure they are recording it,” King said. “Sometimes they just forget to turn it on.”
The group began working on this project last semester, in senior design I. The group spends about 10-15 hours a week on it. Their advisor for the project, Dr. Kurum, an assistant professor for MSU’s electrical and computer engineering department, kept the students on track from the beginning. Throughout this process, each member agrees that it was not only  helpful with their major, but  also taught them skills relevant to group work and time management.  
 
Since technology is continuously advancing, DiGennaro knew their group had to do something that reflected today’s times.
“Everything is just documented now, anything that happens in court has documentation,” DiGennaro said. 
With this invention, both parties involved in police interactions have accountability, something that is necessary now because of controversial issues. The group uses multiple sensors on the police belt for redundancies, and just in case any camera trigger malfunctions or does not activate, there is a backup in place.
“I guess we had multiple sensors because we figured not every situation would involve a gun,” King said. 
The MSU Police Department donated parts of everyday police wear, including the belts they wear, to make sure the project is as accurate as possible.
MSU Police Chief, Vance Rice, encourages this idea and is glad these seniors designed something like this. 
“We supported this research because of its potential to improve officer safety and transparency for law enforcement,” Rice said.
MSU Police Department Sergeant Ken Holbrook and crime prevention/training and supply coordinator, also showed his support of this senior project. 
“I like the idea because it is one less thing an officer has to be concerned with,” Holbrook said. 
The group plans to sell their product as a contract deal than box store sale. They would like to contract the invention with police law enforcement. 
King, DiGennaro, Reeves and Lokhand hope to use the MSU police department as an example for other possible law enforcement agencies. The group plans to go to trade shows as an opportunity to get the word of their triggering system out. 
The final “Demo Day” for their project will be showcased on April 20th.