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November 2007

There are 40,000 citizens, and less than 100 officers to cover every criminal investigation, special operation, juvenile crime and traffic violation in Salem, MA. So Jim Page, a Sergeant here, had a lot on his plate before his video forensics guy retired and the video evidence problem became his.

Like in a lot of PDs, the Salem department likes to do its video evidence work in-house, which means that to make it happen he needed something that, in his words, is 'cop-proof'. A system that is actually easy to use, yet has the kind of capabilities that would take them to the next level, because with the mess of multiplexed videos they get, and the strange and varied proprietary formats, the department had been having a hard time extracting solid, usable evidence from the videos they brought in.

"We knew there had to be a better way to analyze video evidence", says Detective Page now. VideoFOCUS turned out to be that and more.

Since adopting VideoFOCUS, Page has seen the department dramatically improve its ability to capture and export digital video, work with proprietary video formats from security systems and print images directly.

The tool does it all for him. Captures and imports data, converts, de-interlaces, de-multiplexs, enhances and filters video and images, stabilize video, manage and archive digital files into usable formats - all in the most intuitive interface possible in its field.

VideoFOCUS has had a major impact on how his team does its forensics work, because the system is simply so quick, so light on its feet (and mobile), so absolutely rock solid in its evidentiary path, the Salem Department has been able to get through that evidence with ease, and generate the evidence that leads to conviction.

A good example is the situation in which a woman walked into a local bank and handed the teller a note demanding money. The video surveillance system was, as many are, old, so the video was stretched and snowy. VideoFOCUS cleared up the image in minutes, leading to her arrest and conviction.

"VideoFOCUS is reliable", says Page. "It's lead to arrests, court trials, and convictions. I've never heard back after its evidence has been presented. And, if VideoFOCUS can't find it, it's not there." Bottom line, he says? 'Crimes are solved, and this is the evidence that makes the difference."

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