NYPD confirms it’s testing Google Glass with officers on patrol

Now that Google’s Glass Explorer program is open to just about anyone in the U.S. that wants to signup for the $1500 head-mounted computer, we’re bound to see more and more people test the product in new scenarios. Today we get word from a VentureBeat report that The New York City Police Department has invested in a few pairs of the wearable in order to test Glass as a surveillance tool during patrols. 

“We signed up, got a few pairs of the Google glasses, and we’re trying them out, seeing if they have any value in investigations, mostly for patrol purposes,” a ranking New York City law enforcement official told VentureBeat. “We’re looking at them, you know, seeing how they work…. We think it could help impact patrol operations in New York City. We shall see.”

It likely won’t be the only law enforcement agency that tests out the technology as a more efficient method of accessing data they’d normally get from smartphones or other devices. CIO of the San Francisco police department Susan Merritt expressed interest in Glass as a tool for facial recognition and more, but the department is currently only deploying the Galaxy S4 to its officers.