Police Car Video Surveillance ICV (In Car Video) Systems
Written by Marc Linden
Over the past twenty years, the technology behind police car video surveillance systems has evolved significantly. Simultaneously, acceptance of these systems among citizens and police has continued to grow. Police car video surveillance systems are commonly referred to as in-car video (ICV), and I am often called to appear as an expert witness when such video recordings are introduced as evidence in a trial or hearing. My job is to clarify the contents of the video and check that the recording has not been tampered with in any way.
Modern ICV systems are completely digital and store compressed video with sound on hard-disk or solid-state drives. The police officer or state trooper wears a wireless mic, and a dash-mounted camera captures video. During a traffic stop, the ICV makes a permanent record of everything that transpires between the police and motorist. The watermarked video is stored in a tamper-proof enclosure, and a careful chain of custody is maintained as the video is removed from the car, downloaded, and archived.
Here are the numbers: there are about 18,000 independent municipalities in the U.S., and they own roughly 450,000 patrol cars. Approximately 50% of those cars are currently equipped with ICV. With systems priced between $3,000 and $5,000 per vehicle, this represents a substantial investment. Despite tight local budgets, sales of ICV systems to state and local law enforcement continue to grow at a healthy rate.
Given the growth of the industry, I was quite surprised by a story related to me recently by a colleague. He said that the Massachusetts State Police had recently removed all ICV systems from their patrol cars in an effort to boost conviction rates in cases where traffic stops resulted in arrests. Could it be true that a completely objective record of arrests was of greater use to defense attorneys than prosecutors?
My colleague was right. Currently, not a single Massachusetts State Police patrol car is equipped with in-car video. But there’s more to the story. Their patrol cars have NEVER had ICV!
Digging deeper, I found that even though 72% of all highway patrol and state police patrol cars are ICV equipped, there are 4 or 5 states where none of these vehicles have video. Massachusetts is one of those states. It seems there are a variety of factors that play a part when state or local police make the choice to opt-out of ICV technology. There may be budgetary constraints or officers and their unions may object on the grounds that ICV hampers police, who are constantly on guard against being caught making a mistake or an error in judgment. Then, there are different interpretations of overlapping federal, state, and local laws regarding privacy; there are states where audio and/or video recording requires dual party consent (e.g., Massachusetts), and there are states where single part consent is sufficient (e.g., Maine).
My guess, however, is that the most important factor in determining whether state or local police have ICV is public opinion. For some, the threat of Big Brother watching them 24/7 makes ICV an indefensible intrusion on their civil rights and their privacy. Massachusetts State Police have no in-car video and neither do local police in Boston. But anecdotal evidence suggests that the farther one travels east, away from Boston, the more local police patrol cars are ICV equipped.
Personally, I think ICV helps protect everyone involved, both officers and motorists. And according to The International Association of Chiefs of Police, in situations where an officer’s conduct has been called into question, police car video surveillance systems have helped exonerate those officers in 96.2% of all cases.
The Palace Brawl: The Significance of Video Evidence
November 19, 2004 was the day the worst sporting brawl in US history took place. It was the final few minutes of the basketball game between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons when a fight broke out between the players. While Ron Artest was in time out, a drunken fan tossed a partially full beer cup and hit Artest causing him to jump over seats and attack a fan in the stands. With tempers running hot, Artest went after the wrong person and triggered an ‘every man for himself’ situation with only four Auburn Hills police officers in the building.
After the criminal litigations were over, the attorney for the Pacers, Steve Potter retained my services as a video forensic expert on behalf of the Indiana Pacers basketball team. My first activity was to collect all of the available video footage from that moment when the brawl broke out. As you can imagine there were many video sources. With the help of http://www.potterlaw.com/, I found cell phone videos, CCTV system videos from the Palace of Auburn Hills, and four major television network multi-camera video sources.
The next task was to cull through all the footage including multi-camera views of the brawl and isolate those vantage point views that helped bring the brawl into the courtroom for the civil litigation.
I was prepared with several video clips when the first civil case went to trial, Haddad V Indiana Pacers on August 10, 2006. (Read all about it here).
Here are the video forensic activities I used to help the Trier of Fact and jurors view the brawl including all isolated incidents in question. After I received all video footage, I loaded the various formats into my forensic computer using Adobe Premiere Pro software. I created sequences for each incident and placed the useful camera vantage point clips back to back in each sequence. Some events went by very fast so I repeated the video clips and added slow motion. In some cases, I reduced the speed by 25%, 50%, and 75% so all persons could see the series of events as they occurred. When necessary, I also zoomed to enlarge the area of interest in each video clip.
In my opinion, it is very important to place this series of clips back to back with a 5-second pause in between clips so the viewer can become acclimated with the series of events as they occurred. For each clip vantage point, there was an average of two to five minutes of video all persons could watch to see exactly what went down during the brawl.
Read more about the brawl: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacers%E2%80%93Pistons_brawl
Footage from the infamous brawl can be found below:
Video Enhancement: How to Enhance a Video Recording
As experienced and trained video forensic experts, we perform video enhancement in our lab on a regular basis. In the following post, we will share with you some common challenges with forensic video enhancement process. We will also share some ‘How To’s’ so you better understand the forensic video enhancement process.
Video Enhancement Preliminary Analysis
Client attorneys submit video recordings to us for preliminary analysis. During this phase, we spend one hour of lab time to review the statistics of the video recording. We examine the compression, pixels, format and aspect ratio to name a few. During the preliminary analysis, we communicate to our client whether or not forensic video enhancement is possible. Nobody should pay high forensic laboratory rates until a forensic expert believes a video recording can be enhanced.
The main reason we are called many times every day here at Primeau Forensics for video enhancement is that our clients want to better see the events as they occurred. This is mostly because they want the truth about an event, crime, or altercation.
Purpose and Goals for Video Enhancement
One of the goals of forensic video enhancement, in some cases, is to be able to see person’s faces better than they are when viewing the video without video enhancement. In this case, a comparative analysis is performed after video enhancement in an attempt to determine the identity of a person in a video recording.
Other reasons for forensic video enhancement is to enlarge and clarify a video in order to identify, for instance, the license plate on a car. This is more difficult, especially if the car is in motion and the camera is not near the license plate. When the car is not moving and the license plate is in close proximity to the camera, a video forensic expert can use frame averaging to combine the best pixel quality for successful video enhancement.
Audio Enhancement for Video Recordings
Audio portions of video recordings can also be enhanced to help an investigation. On occasion, audio portions of video recordings fail or are not clear. In the laboratory, we can remove the audio portion of a video recording and forensically enhance the audio to better hear the events as they originally occurred.
With forensic video enhancement, we can only enhance what is possible to enhance. Hollywood has distorted the public perception of what can be enhanced forensically and what is impossible to forensically enhance.
In some cases, the video is of too poor quality for forensic video enhancement. Some reasons for low video quality include; the video recording was not exported properly and the camera lens is dirty (keep your outdoor cameras clean).
Frame rate is set low in the digital video recorder will also lower the potential for successful video enhancement. If the video recording size (aspect ratio) is small, we have a lower chance for successful video enhancement. We can not zoom and clarify the objects of interest. These objects become blurry and distorted. Even while using the best forensic video enhancement tools and software programs available, a successful enhancement isn’t always possible.
We Ask Questions About Your Video Recording
When we initially speak to a client-attorney, government agency, or private individual, we ask a lot of questions about the video recording. Is the video recording still stored on the system that created it? This is always the best practice when a video recording has captured a crime. That way, a video forensic expert can be brought in to examine the recording system and video quality to make sure we have the highest quality of video recording for video enhancement. We have learned to ask a lot of questions before our clients spend any money that may be wasted. We always make sure we have the best quality export from the system or device that created the video recording when performing forensic video enhancement.
At Primeau Forensics, we have a team of trained forensic experts, forensic technicians, and investigators that work on a daily bases with all kinds of video recordings.
How to Enhance a Video Recording
This section is designed to better help you understand the forensic video enhancement process. One tip that we can present to you, as previously mentioned, is to make sure you always have the highest possible quality export from the equipment that created the video recording. Types of equipment that create video include a CCTV surveillance system, mobile video surveillance device, police dash camera, police body camera, and smartphone to name a few. Another tip is to keep the video recording stored on the device that created the video recording.
There are methods for recovering video recordings for forensic video enhancement. A more desirable method is exporting the highest quality video recording. Another is to play the video recording while simultaneously recording the video onto another device. Here is another tip, do not use your smartphone to record the playback screen of a video surveillance system and expect a successful video enhancement.
Police departments often send us video recordings created on a surveillance system that were not exported through the equipment that created it but rather recorded out of the equipment onto another device. Once the device plays the recording while another device simultaneously recordings the playback signal. An output like ‘VGA’ is used which records the same quality that can be viewed on the systems video monitor. This is much better than recording the screen with your smartphone. Some of the time this is the only way to get a video recording exported from the system that created it.
There are several companies that manufacture turnkey evidence retrieval systems.
In some cases, a simultaneous video recording is better than what the system that created the recording is capable of exporting. When in doubt, it is best to perform both processes and send us both versions. Screen capture or VGA as well as an export from the system. To further explain, an export is a process that can be verified in the operator’s manual of the system.
Call the manufacturer of the surveillance system tech department if you need help. Do not wait too long and risk the important video recording to be erased or overwritten. Put the export on a thumb drive and make back up copies. Do not change the file format or any other settings when making copies.
If you have any questions about video enhancement, forensic video enhancement, or forensic video recovery, call our experts at 800.647.4281.
A DVD is NOT an Original Video
More often than not, a DVD is not an original video.
Many law enforcement organizations create DVD copies for defendants because they are much easier to play than native digital video formats. This can be confusing so allow me to further explain.
Over the last 30 years as a practicing audio/video forensic expert, I have experienced many digital file formats, as well as analog tape formats, used in litigation. Usually, they are able to successfully serve a purpose by showing the facts as they occurred. These videos help bring the scene of the crime into the courtroom so the Trier of Fact and the jury can make decisions more accurately. People alter video and eliminate sections they do not want the court to see.
This is why as a video forensic expert, I am asked to examine and authenticate video evidence when one of the parties in the litigation disagrees with the contents of the video. When the video evidence is presented on a DVD as a VOB burn, it is nearly impossible for me to authenticate because the metadata has been stripped. When a digital video is created, the metadata in the digital video file has information about the equipment that made the digital video file, the date and time the digital video was recorded and most importantly, a footprint of any video editing software that was used before that video was admitted into evidence. All of this metadata information is stripped from the digital video recording if the video has been burned to a DVD.
Part of my job is to investigate the history of the video in evidence and help attorneys and prosecutors obtain originals or better understand the video evidence before any due process begins. One of the biggest problems I find is that most of the video entered into evidence is on a DVD and is not original. When either of the litigators question the contents of a video, they ask for my help to determine if any editing or alteration has occurred. I always encourage prosecutors and lawyers to maintain the original video evidence in the recorder that created it because that way, a full forensic investigation is easily executed.
Once that original video is deleted, it becomes much more difficult to investigate forensically. In some cases, a properly made copy of the original evidence will include the important metadata necessary for the authentication process. Leaving the digital video file in its native format is much better than converting the video format to a DVD VOB file through the burning process.
How to Enhance Security Camera Videos – Enhance Video Quality
As a video forensic expert, CCTV enhancement (closed-circuit television) is a day to day practice we perform on video recordings from both digital and analog surveillance systems. Often times, the courts we testify in want to know how to enhance security camera videos. In the following post, we will describe CCTV enhancement and how to enhance CCTV camera videos to retain quality and clarify the recorded events. We will also cover the basic best practices to ensure the most successful and accurate forensic video enhancement.
What is CCTV Enhancement?
CCTV Enhancement is done using non-destructive techniques to preserve the video evidence integrity and pixel quality. Some of the most requested forensic video enhancement are license plates. Clarifying or enhancing the events as they occurred assists the trier of fact to make determinations about the video events.
As video forensic experts, we are asked to enhance recordings used as video evidence to clarify the events as they occurred. Video recordings used as evidence can be enhanced regardless if they were recorded during the day or at night. The success of the CCTV Enhancement is directly proportionate to the quality of the video recording. We can perform a preliminary analysis to make sure we are confident in meeting our client’s expectations.
Often times, we are also asked to provide forensic image enhancement for identification purposes. We use various software programs and CCTV enhancement tools to help us enhance or clarify the desired video images. We create customized filtering to sharpen the video image and remove video noise for identification and enhancement of the images in the CCTV surveillance video.
Steps to Enhance Video Quality
A variety of CCTV enhancement techniques are applied in different arrangements on CCTV surveillance video recordings, smartphone video recordings, law enforcement dash camera recordings, as well as other types of recordings used as video evidence. The most important ingredient to this scientific process is to maintain the highest quality of the video recording and establish a chain of custody. This yields the highest success possible throughout the investigation. If the analog video or digital video file has undergone additional compression, this video evidence will be limited to the enhancement possibilities.
- Scaling/Pixel Interpolation: Re-size, or scale an image or video to a larger resolution to further identify suspects.
- Sharpening: Enhances the edge contrast of an image or video.
- Warp Stabilization: This is most common today with smartphone video evidence. Reduces the amount of movement from the user that created the video evidence.
- Shadow and Highlight Adjustments (Exposure): Reveals subtle detail in the shadow and/or highlight areas of your images.
- Frame Averaging: Increase the quality of the image by combining data from surrounding frames as well as a better signal to noise ratio (SNR) in your images or videos.
- Speed Reduction: Decrease the original playback of video evidence to view the events as they occurred in more detail.
CCTV Enhancement Tips
First, take the necessary steps to preserve your original CCTV recording. You may have various export options for extracting the CCTV video from your system that you are not aware of. By preserving the original evidence, the opportunity for questioning the integrity of the CCTV video diminishes. This is especially true if the video recording is extracted from the original system. You can also consult a video forensic expert about the best methods and file format exporting options that your CCTV system is capable of.
Second, if a crime has been captured on a CCTV video system, you will want to export a copy for the local police. Most consumer-based CCTV camera video systems have easy to follow instructions for exporting AVI files (courtroom ready format) directly to mobile storage. Most consumer-based CCTV camera systems require a flash drive storage medium to export to. These drives are easily available at any office supply store like Office Max or Staples. The AVI formatted video is also easily viewable by a video forensic expert or investigator for immediate review.
CCTV enhancement is done using various software programs by a trained and qualified professional like a video forensic expert. Pixels are enlarged, or otherwise adjusted, in order to bring out the necessary details or information about the crime that was committed. Most CCTV systems and their cameras have night vision that will record clear images of events as they occurred for forensic enhancement.
Contact Us for a Pro Bono Consultation
If you have a video that you question or need help understanding, contact us for a pro bono consultation. We apply forensic expertise to cases in the United States and many countries around the globe. Any and all formats of audio and video accepted.
Click HERE to email your questions or call 800-647-4281 in the USA or +01-248-853-4091 Internationally.
Video as Evidence – The Importance of Video Authentication
Why is video authentication important? As a video forensic expert, I often find that videos submitted into litigation are not original as the person admitting has stated. Instead, they are copies that have been altered to only contain the events they want the trier of fact to see. From a forensic perspective, this is not fair because the original video will contain all the events as they actually occurred. Some of the events that were omitted have relevance to criminal or civil litigation.
Last week, I testified in court in a video authentication case. The report that I wrote for the case was admitted into evidence. My report revealed that a video had been altered and was not an original.
I testified that my report revealed the scientific findings and my conclusion that the video recording was altered and not an original. Both conclusions were scientific and if I conducted the same test 1000 times over, I would arrive with the same conclusions. If any other forensic expert were to conduct the testing that I had documented in my work product and report, they would arrive at the same conclusion as well.
Lately, I authenticate all forms of video. Store CCTV, cell phone video, and tablet video. We live in a video world! Anywhere you go out in public you are more than likely being video recorded. If you are riding a city bus, you are more than likely being video recorded. Some civilians have installed mobile CCTV systems in their cars just in case they need to defend themselves or catch a crime in progress.
The police originally installed cruiser video recording systems to first protect themselves and to also protect the citizens from prejudice. Cruiser video holds the police accountable by recording probable cause for traffic stops
Forensic experts have many tools to determine scientifically if a video is first, original and second if a video has been altered. It is especially difficult with digital video to determine how a video was edited if it does not purport to contain the information or events either litigator states that it should contain. This is where forensic investigation becomes the only way to determine the video evidence authenticity.
If you believe a video has been edited, here are a couple of things you can do personally to determine if your video may have been edited.
- First, determine the file format on your DVD or CD Disc. Insert the disc into your computer, left-click on the drive, and select open. Is the file format VOB or MP4, AVI, MOV? This format is actually the video container.
- Next, go back to the file folder, left-click to open, find the video, and right-click on the file. All the way at the drop-down menu is the word properties. Left-click to open and review the MAC information. Modified, accessed and created information will reveal dates. Does the disc/CD created day to read a date that the litigator who submitted the video stated the date created to be?
- The length of the video can also be a clue for your preliminary video authentication. Are there any phone records to compare to the length of the video? Does your memory of the series of events match the length of the video and video events?
Of course, there are many more steps a video forensic expert will take in order to determine if your video is genuine and authentic. Even if there is no audio on your video recording, the audio track can also reveal information about the authenticity of your video recording.
Video as Evidence – CCTV Video and Video Forensics
As a video forensic expert and expert witness, I have seen almost everything when it comes to CCTV. Some of it is very disturbing, but much of it is from the lady whose ex-husband is stalking her, to the bank that just captured a robbery on video. Understanding CCTV systems has become part of the video forensic examiner’s job because a majority of video evidence is made on CCTV systems. In the following article, I will give you my forensic tips on CCTV.
Imagine this. You are the proprietor of a convenience store. Last night at 11:06, you rang up a customer’s Snickers bar and a jumbo Slurpee. The customer reached in his pocket, pulled out a gun, and put it to your head, demanding all the cash in the register. Terrified for your life, you gave him the money. Luckily you had a CCTV system and turned the tape over to the police. The police sent it to a forensic expert because all you could see on the tape was a dark silhouette of the criminal. Unfortunately, the robber’s face and features were unidentifiable.
Although CCTV systems can prove to be beneficial for many reasons, they can be useless without some well thought out considerations. My hope is that the law enforcement and legal community will read this article and pass on the information to the businesses in their community.
CCTV is a network of cameras hooked to a monitoring system so that various locations or angles can be viewed and/or recorded. It does differ from broadcast television in that CCTV cameras are not openly broadcast through the airwaves. However, some CCTV systems have point-to-point transmissions that could be intercepted by someone with the equipment and knowledge to intercept that signals.
The benefits outweigh the drawbacks of implementing CCTV systems for several reasons. Think of how CCTV systems have helped our traffic problems. Having cameras all over our roads and highways allows accidents and traffic jams to be discovered sooner so traffic can be rerouted. In banks, casinos, airports, shopping centers, businesses, and military bases; CCTV systems can prove beneficial against crime.
There are some drawbacks that can really cause problems with CCTV systems. These systems can be expensive. They can be considered an invasion of privacy. Also, a system can fail because of a bad or over-recycled tape, and the crime will not be recorded.
For some strange reason, businesses who still use VHS tape to record their surveillance often insist on recycling their videos beyond a logical limit. Then, when the expert needs to lift an image off for identification, fuzzy, blurry photos are produced.
In the convenience store example above, the camera was in the wrong position. A light was installed in a recently added display that was not in the store when the CCTV system was installed. Nobody ever updated the CCTV system or performed maintenance to discover the problem.
The purpose of this article is to share some of my experiences with CCTV footage and provide some tips from a forensic expert’s point of view, sound advice to avoid costly mistakes, and expensive forensic restoration.
Number One: Plan your CCTV system layout in advance. Do not put in a CCTV system without planning for potential crime circumstances. What crimes could be executed under the watchful eyes of your CCTV system? You can call this crisis management. Draw a diagram of this activity. Use it as your blueprint for locating your camera positions. If you own a business that has a back lot to cover, don’t just mount the camera to the back of your building thinking it will do the job. Consider what you have to protect, the value of these items, and the various ways a criminal could get at them. Then, place the camera(s) to cover all potential activity. Consider multiple cameras because, in the long run, it will save you money.
Because so many systems were not planned thoroughly in advance, the majority of my forensic cases involve video restoration and clarification. So much of this can be avoided.
Number Two: Use a digital video recorder and record directly to the hard drive. If at all possible, do not use VHS. There are some great companies like Focus Micro and Crest electronics that specialize in DVR CCTV systems, maintenance of the system, and training your staff to use them properly. They offer some excellent products and CCTV systems, and will even help you plan your system layout.
Here are some reasons DVR is superior to VHS:
- Far better image quality
- The ability to view cameras, live or recorded, from another location through the internet
- Ease in copying images from crime scenes
- No VHS tapes to change
Number Three: Make sure to account for lighting conditions, as well as sun positions.
One out of ten of my cases requires the comparison of a frame of evidence from a darkly lit video with an exemplar frame or photo. Make sure there is light where your camera is located. If necessary, hire an electrician to put in a light or two near your camera, especially if the potential crimes that warrant the installation of your CCTV system can occur at night. Duh! I can hear the installed now: sure looked good in daylight!?
In addition, consider sun positions all year long. Remember sixth-grade science class? The sun changes positions with the seasons. Bright sun facing the camera will cause the iris in the camera to close (in automatic position) causing the image of the perpetrator to darken. Try this with your home camera. Take a video of your friends with the un behind them instead of behind you. The friends will appear dark because of the camera’s lenses adjusting for the high light level.
Number Four: Plan camera positions for all possible situations. I have heard it said that if you want to rob a bank, wear a baseball cap. Why is it that CCTV installers put the cameras in high positions that will never show the criminals face?
Number Five: Keep your camera clean. Car dealerships wash their windows and cars weekly if not more often. Why don’t they wash their cameras? Think about it. Many outdoor cameras are somewhat protected from the elements, but after a while, dirt will still gather on the surface of the camera lenses.
A solution of Shaklee basic H or white vinegar in hot water will clean them nicely without scratching or clouding the lenses or protective housing. Harsh cleaning chemicals can scratch or cloud the glass, especially on Plexiglas camera housings.
Number Six: Do not use wireless cameras. If at all possible, run cable and go wired for your entire network. Wireless cameras are unreliable, especially in storms.
Almost all maintenance can be performed by you or done very reasonably by a professional. Avoid costly mistakes and tragedy by keeping your system maintained and updated. Use Google to seek a professional who can help with your circumstances.
Ed Primeau is a video forensic expert, author, professional speaker, and business owner in Rochester Hills, MI. He is the author of two books, ‘The Art Of Production’ and ‘The Video Revolution’.
CCTV Enhancement: How to Improve the Quality of Video Evidence
You have a video and the quality is poor. You need to see the events recorded in the video more clearly than what is currently available. Chances are that your video is probably part of a court case and has a critical impact on the judge and jury better understanding the events as they originally occurred. Video is a very powerful tool and helps law enforcement display criminal activity in the courtroom. Video also helps keep businesses secure through the use of surveillance video. When a crime is committed and caught on CCTV video, video forensics experts can help clarify and enhance that video so the court and other litigators can see the events more clearly during the court proceeding. On the other hand, maybe you have an old video, like a wedding video that has aged and damaged from poor storage or became overheated on the dashboard of your car in the hot sun. Video forensic experts have the hardware and software tools available to restore that video to a playable condition in most situations. The success of the restoration, clarification, and enhancement, depends on two things; how damaged the tape is and your expectations of what is possible. Many video recordings are too far gone for the forensic expert to properly restore. However, I have found over the years that experimenting with various restoration tools, hardware, and software, in various combinations, yield results. You have to have a starting point to work from to achieve results. What may seem impossible can be very possible when using various tools in various combinations. If you have a video that needs the quality improved, call us for a pro bono consultation (800) 647-4281.Expert Video Enhancement: A Matter of Life or Death
As we have all witnessed from the recent Boston Bombings, having the technology and talent to accurately and clearly perform expert video enhancement. This is especially true when it comes to criminal forensic image clarification from surveillance security cameras.
A trained specialist using sophisticated software can make blurry or seemingly impossible-to-see images so clear that unique facial features are revealed, leading to positive identification of a suspect or criminal.
The FBI engaged a team of experts to enhance images of the two bombing suspects to the point of positive recognition. As a result, several friends and family members of the suspects came forth, providing valuable information to the authorities.
Within 24 hours after the enhanced photos were released, suspect one was killed and suspect two was captured. The power of video enhancement prevented an unknown amount of possible additional deaths by the two bombers. Watertown residents can feel safe in their homes once again.
At Primeau Forensics, we have a team of video forensic experts that employ the latest technology available to enhance surveillance video. We investigate video evidence that helps the court better see the events as they occurred working closely and strategically with authorities like police or prosecutors as well as lawyers.
We have the technology and experience to acquire clear images, measure objects and suspects, and the ability to look for other clues in the surveillance video to aid in the litigation or criminal proceeding.
If you have any questions about video enhancement, give us a call for a pro bono consultation at (800) 647-4281.
Video Enhancement Strategies of a Video Forensic Expert
Every case that requires video enhancement requires the video forensic expert to develop a strategy comprised of a series of steps and forensic software tools. Back when surveillance video was an analog videotape, video enhancement was more difficult. The equipment forensic experts used to conduct video enhancement was entirely hardware-based. Forensic experts did the best they could with what they had to work with.
Today, technology has progressed, making several scientific community-approved software programs available. One thing that causes difficulty during video enhancement is poor camera placement.
Installation of CCTV cameras must be well thought out in advance in order to aide in the forensic investigation, should a crime be committed. In addition, the sun constantly moves throughout the day and affects the surveillance video camera by over and under-exposing the surveillance area.
Outdoor cameras become dirty after a period of time, making video enhancement difficult. Point Tilt Zoom (PTZ) cameras provide much better video surveillance footage because of their ability to move, follow and zoom in on perpetrators more effectively than surface mount cameras. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Making sure the surveillance system is properly thought out and installed will make video enhancement more successful than trying to fix problems that could have been avoided.
I do not have to convince you of the value of surveillance video; the number of court cases that have video forensic evidence speaks for themselves. Surveillance video recordings produce very useful high-quality digital video recordings that aide litigators in the courtroom see the events as they originally occurred.
Video enhancement is challenged by one thing: the fact that most security video recordings must be viewed on a proprietary player, a software program that has the ability to interpret the specific manufacturer’s secure code, which maintains the integrity of the video recording, keeps the video secure and reduces the vulnerability of editing. This proprietary player makes it very difficult to alter or edit the surveillance video. Some manufacturers allow the ability to export video files from their surveillance propriety players and others do not. This poses a challenge for the video enhancement expert.
The best bet in any situation that requires video enhancement is to talk to an experienced video forensic expert to learn what is possible and what is not. Video enhancement is misled by what Hollywood produces and often confuses the public as to what is possible and what is not.