Child Witnesses: The Right Approach
Child Witnesses: The Right Approach When a child is not the victim, but a witness, access can be complicated. Conflicting priorities place people who would normally be on the same side at odds with each other. How can law enforcement agencies navigate this complex situation to get the information they need while also protecting the […]
Videoing Child Interviews Safeguards Your Case
Videoing Child Interviews Safeguards Your Case A prosecutor’s office in Macomb County, Michigan was recently challenged for not videoing child victim interviews– by the defendant. How can this be? Well, as it turns out, the defendant’s lawyers honed in on a critical point: Macomb County’s policy of conducting non-recorded interviews was out of step with […]
Mobile Recording: Evidence of Every Interview
Mobile Recording: Evidence of Every Interview Interview rooms are routinely equipped with cameras, but there are unique interview situations that provide specific challenges. For example, interviewing a child is not like interviewing an adult. A child interview room is often provided with toys, art supplies, and multiple seating venues, which can present a real challenge […]
Recorded Interrogations and Good Police Work
Many law enforcement officers are concerned that recording interviews will adversely affect the quality of interrogations. However, departments who’ve adopted this technology are overwhelmingly happy with the results, and wouldn’t have it any other way. Here are five reasons why recorded interviews support and enhance your interrogations. Recordings Have More Impact Than Testimony Courtroom testimony […]
Interview Footage: Who Gets to See It?
Who gets to see the body cam footage your department collects? It’s important to have a consistent policy in place before it’s needed. Here are some key issues you’ll want to consider. If you’re going to have a policy for how and when you’re sharing data, you first need to address proper procedure for actual […]
Designing an Interrogation Room Around Recording Equipment
Recording interrogations is an important move, but if your interrogation room’s outdated, you’re less likely to have a confession to record! Let’s discuss how to design an interrogation room that get results. Historically, interrogation rooms are stark places with concrete floors and metal tables. The fact that such rooms are often featured in suspense or […]
Body Cam Footage: An Underused Resource
Body cams have all kinds of practical applications in everyday police work. In this blog, we’ll show you how you can get the most out of your body cam footage. Some of these may really surprise you! Eyewitness Interviews: Most of us think of body cams as a tool to document critical incidents as they […]
360 Degree Cameras and Traffic Stops
One reason for increased interest in body cams and other recording devices is that traditional vehicle cameras have some distinct limitations. After all, they’re dashboard-mounted and have a restricted field of view. If a confrontation escalates and moves off camera, there’s no video footage to clarify any recorded audio. This causes problems when writing reports, […]
iRecord in Action on The First 48
Maybe you’ve watched The First 48. It’s a long-running A&E crime documentary that focuses on the first 48 hours after a homicide. The highly-rated program aired an episode this season that demonstrated iRecord technology in action. (See the whole episode here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3dp1s1) The episode, called “Blood On Bourbon”, focuses on a New Orleans mass shooting […]
If You Don’t Record Interviews, Then Someone Else Will
The proliferation of cell phones makes it easier than ever for citizens to record police interactions. While transparency is important, it’s not clear that’s what’s actually being provided by the recordings. Citizen Recordings Don’t Provide the Whole Picture Many citizen recordings begin when use of force is observed. But the incidents that led up to […]