Law Enforcement Turns To Avid

Tewksbury, Mass. – Two prominent law enforcement agencies – the Law Enforcement & Emergency Services Video Association (LEVA), and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) – are implementing Avid Technology solutions for use in video forensics investigations and training labs.

LEVA has established the first forensics video processing training facility in the country - the LEVA Digital Multimedia Evidence Processing Lab at the University of Indianapolis - equipped with 20 video analysis workstations running Avid Media Composer software and dTective software from Ocean Systems. The labs are also equipped with Avid Mojo acceleration hardware and 4TB of storage on an Avid Unity LANshare. Each year, approximately 400 full-time law enforcement personnel will participate in a variety of basic, intermediate and advanced video forensics courses at the facility. The lab may also be transformed into an operational command center, if needed, in times of crisis.

“The University of Indianapolis is proud to partner with LEVA to improve the process of forensic video training and simultaneously process thousands of video exhibits in the event of a major incident,” said Tom Christenberry, Director of Public safety Education for LEVA. “This Lab offers a new training and assistance venue for public safety. It also signifies a paradigm shift in the way law enforcement agencies can process, analyze and study video evidence related to national high-profile and homeland security cases, especially in the case of a major national incident.”

Ocean Systems’ dTective software, which is powered by Avid nonlinear video editing systems, is the most widely used system when it comes to analyzing video footage pertaining to criminal activity. Currently used by more than 1,000 law enforcement agencies across the country, the software allows users to easily work with full frame, uncompressed video and run a host of forensic processes to clarify evidence.

Grant Fredericks, a national video forensics expert and lead instructor to LEVA said, “With more than 12 million video surveillance systems operating in the US today, video is clearly the most prolific evidence collection resource available to law enforcement. In addition, collecting video footage is a priority on the federal government’s list for assessing and understanding the contributing factors that lead to terrorist attacks. Using Avid’s forensics solutions to help fight the ongoing war on terror enables us to work much more efficiently. The process of sifting through hours of surveillance footage will be far less overwhelming for investigators.”

In addition, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) has established its own support network of video analysis in the US. This new network will also utilize video analysis workstations running Avid Media Composer Adrenaline™ systems with dTective software. The Department of Justice and the IACP are establishing four Regional Forensic Video Labs strategically placed throughout the country to assist local and state agencies in processing and managing video related evidence. The goal is to link the 1,000 local, state and federal agencies, currently using Avid’s video forensic solutions to process cases, and to share information about unsolved cases and criminal trends where video evidence is seized. The LEVA training facility at the University of Indianapolis will provide training and support for these new Regional Forensic Video Labs.