Robert Vanman, founder and CEO of WatchGuard Video in Allen, said his industry has boomed since public interest in police body cameras has increased.[/caption]

A little over two years ago, Robert Vanman’s Allen-based company defined success by taking market share from competitors in what was a relatively stagnant industry.

WatchGuard Video had been selling police body cameras since 2010, the same year the video system manufacturer moved from Plano to a vacant building south of Allen City Hall.

The company sold very few body cameras, Vanman said—that is, until 2014, when a prominent police shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, sparked a national discussion over the use of the devices.

“Ferguson ignited our industry,” said Vanman, who founded the company and serves as its CEO. “Since the Ferguson incident, police body cameras are front-page news everywhere, and you hear about them all the time.”

WatchGuard Video’s in-car panoramic cameras are one of the company’s most popular products, Vanman said.[/caption]

While WatchGuard’s bread-and-butter product is still its in-car video system, Vanman said the growth in body-camera sales will soon force the company to move from its existing location to a soon-to-be-constructed headquarters northeast of Exchange and Andrews parkways.

Today, the company employs about 240 people who engineer, manufacture and sell the devices all from its Allen facility, Vanman said. By early 2018, Vanman plans to move about 300 employees into the new headquarters, which will have the capacity to hold 500 employees. A second phase of construction will expand the headquarters to a capacity of 700 employees by 2022.

Local law enforcement agencies are outfitted with in-car systems in the Allen company’s installation dock.[/caption]

Part of the reason Vanman is so bullish on the company’s growth, aside from recent revenue trends, is the company’s recent release of an integrated video system that includes both body-worn and in-car cameras, Vanman said. The system is the first of its kind in the market and is in high demand by departments, Vanman said.

Despite being one of the country’s largest video system manufacturers for police, WatchGuard Video is a closely held private company, Vanman said. His family owns the majority share. One-third of the company’s profit benefits Christian charity projects, Vanman said.