Court cases often hinge on the quality of the evidence being presented. In the age of digital editing, enhancement, and manipulation, how does our security technology and video experts ensure that video evidence is incontrovertible and ready to hold up in court?
Court cases require video evidence with unquestioned authenticity.
Police investigations and court cases require evidence that is of a high quality and legal standard – evidence that is admissible in court and can help contribute clarity and context to legal cases. As such, court quality evidence must have what is known as “unquestioned authenticity”, where there is no doubt of the legitimacy and veracity of a piece of evidence as presented in a court case.
In the age of digital recording and editing technology, it is much easier for various parties to alter or rearrange footage as they see fit, which only reinforces the necessity for digital video evidence to be treated with the utmost care in all aspects of evidence collection. This requires careful procedures, witnessing, and documentation that creates a secure procedure in evidence gathering and transferring. Many important factors come into play during this process – how and when a piece of footage was recorded, chain of custody, video compression, and confirming the authenticity of video evidence. Many believe in the false “CSI Effect”, in reference to the popular police procedural television show – where even if investigators are working with a piece of low quality, grainy footage, they are still somehow able to zoom in to the smallest detail and crack the case. As nice as that would be, even in today’s highly technological landscape, if the raw image data information is not of high enough quality, no amount of video editing or enhancement can sufficiently increase the quality of that image.
Video evidence must be irrefutable and hold up to intense levels of scrutiny. Even if video editing software is utilized to clean up a video image, this enhancement inherently alters the original video, which in turn makes it less acceptable as evidence in court. In addition, it’s not just the video itself that is played inside of a courtroom, there also needs to be clarity provided by an expert video witness who can explain what is being shown and put the footage into proper context. This expert analysis also assists in authentication and understanding the technical aspects of video recording – technical issues and know-how, camera views, aspect ratios, and the chronological timeline of events. A qualified and trained expert can help to explain the finer details of video evidence that could make or break a case. (1)
The challenges of traditional security surveillance:
Many traditional security systems obtain low quality footage that lacks the definition and clarity needed to be used as evidence in court cases. In addition, some live remote video monitoring services utilize a clients’ existing cameras to stream video back to a monitoring centre, and the images captured can be of questionable quality. In addition, the Internet connections being leveraged can be slow and have latency issues, and the data compression technology used is often unreliable and cannot handle the high level of video quality and the large file sizes that are being transmitted over data networks. Many security providers intentionally lower the quality of their video streams to reduce data consumption, create smaller file sizes, and cut costs. This results in a significant degradation in pixel density, and a video image that no longer holds muster when held up to the high standards and requirements set out by courts across Canada.
How does Caliber’s video security technology assist with court cases?
We pride ourselves on the exceptional video image quality recorded by our Video Security Units, anchored by two stationary cameras for perimeter coverage and situational awareness, and a PTZ (Pan-Tilt-Zoom) camera to zoom in on important details. The images provided by our security units are high resolution and require no enhancement, operating 24/7 to record video evidence that can be leveraged in court cases. Our proprietary cellular LTE+ platform and patented data compression technology maintain high resolution image quality when transmitted over our secure network. We utilize a protected MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) network that operates independently of other Internet traffic. It operates with consistently low latency, and allows for immediate communication between our security units and our UL Certified Monitoring Facility – and the video image stays crystal clear during the entire process. With the integrity of evidence fully maintained, there is no question of its authenticity. Raw, uncompressed footage can be easily accessed, and provided when it is required.
It’s not just our technology that can make the difference in a court case – it’s our people. Our Live Remote Video Monitoring team are second to none in the security industry, and are highly trained to track and deter criminals. They provide context to situations, and document security incidents through Log Reports that are time stamped and fully detail the chronological sequence of events. This creates a consistent timeline that legal counsel can then rely on to present their evidence as factually as possible. All video recorded is stored on secure hard drives that are treated with the utmost care during the various stages within the chain of custody – staying consistent and secure as evidence is transferred.
Our Investigations team are also second to none when it comes to their video expertise and ability to provide proper context to what is being shown in a court case. They are trained to know the ins and outs of video monitoring, as well as the nuances and finer details that are presented in the video evidence collected by our security units. This video evidence is not just useful for protection of our clients’ sites but also for serving public safety and the greater good. We collaborate with Police on a regular basis to provide video evidence, not just of the sites we monitor, but other community areas and incidents that may be caught on camera that could be helpful to prosecutors in a court case. Through our proprietary reporting platform, syncroReports, you can rest assured that you will be fully aware of what is being recorded and reported on your sites: Log Reports and video snapshots paint a complete picture of your site security.
It has never been more important for video evidence in court cases to be of the highest possible quality and credibility. Caliber’s revolutionary video security technology ensures that this evidence meets the requirements for unquestioned authenticity, and assists in holding criminals accountable for their actions in court.
Resources:
- “Video Evidence”, James Careless, Canadian Bar Association, April 21, 2011