Seized Assets Fund Video Editing System To Aid Police
The police department in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., has deployed the dTective system for video evidence editing and case management.
Made by a company called Ocean Systems, the technology allows law enforcement agencies to convert VHS surveillance tapes into digital format, so they can refine and enlarge images using computers.
Files of both video and audio can be imported from multiple sources. The system allowed Poughkeepsie police Detective Jon Wagner to capture an image from a bank’s video surveillance system of a person robbing a bank.
The system costs about $33,000, and was purchased by the Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office using seized goods and confiscated drug money.
The money was also used to provide training and to purchase secondary tools. Training is offered through a five-day program at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va.
Wagner says video sources should be in good condition for the system to work optimally. He adds that digital sources can sometimes leave out important data because of compression.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Poughkeepsie Journal (01/31/03) P. 1B; Oluwa, Rasheed .
