Dashcam captures vandal red-handed in Regina
In-car cameras gaining popularity around the world for capturing road incidents
Regina Police are looking for a man caught vandalizing someone's car.
The full video of the incident — clearly showing the suspect's face — was captured on a dashboard camera and shared on a Facebook page that collects pictures of bad parking in the province.
"[The video] does give a lot of information in this instance," said Les Parker of Regina Police Service.
"Having the video, you have a lot of information on the identity of the suspect," he added.
Mitchell Dueck, the man who posted the video to social media, said the alleged vandal's name has been identified.
Police say they prefer to see the footage of any alleged incident before it is widely shared and distributed on social media. But they also say incidents caught on camera are increasingly becoming more common as evidence in investigations.
Dashcams common in Russia
Electronics stores say they've seen more demand in-store for the little recorders.
"A couple of years ago you wouldn't have really heard of them. People actually talk about them now," said Darien Cozart of Visions Electronics in Regina.
It is not just Saskatchewan that is seeing an increase in the popularity of dashcams.
They are a fixture in Russia, where driving can be notoriously bad and are often used to win insurance claims in court.
In Taiwan, shocking footage was recorded of an airliner crash in February.
SGI says footage from a dashboard camera doesn't regularly accompany insurance claims but it says it will accept video evidence to determine fault during investigations.