Security Camera New Star Witness

Surveillance camera footage has become one of the best sources of crime-scene evidence, according to many prosecutors. Grant Fredericks, forensic video analyst with the nonprofit Law Enforcement and Emergency Services Video Association, says fingerprints used to be the big mainstay of crime-scene evidence, but that role is now filled by security systems.

“There’s more visual evidence at crime scenes today than any other evidence,” says Fredericks. Surveillance cameras have proved useful in many types of cases, including terrorism, robberies, kidnappings, murders, thefts, fraud, and burglaries. Surveillance cameras are found everywhere these days: Banks, stores, train stations, schools, ATMs, highways, and rooftops.

Along with the proliferation of surveillance cameras has come a boom in forensic video analysis positions, with hundreds of law enforcement agencies across the United States now employing video analysts. As an added boon, experts say criminals are more likely to make confessions when they realize they have been caught on video.

There are more than 26 million surveillance cameras in the country, according to estimates from one video security firm. “In the absence of any human witness, the video might be your only witness,” says surveillance video expert Thomas C. Christenberry of the University of Indianapolis.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Washington Post (10/08/05) P. B1; Ruane, Michael E.