Video Surveillance Acting As the Eyes of the Law
There was a time, not so long ago, where people testifying in court had to actually remember what occurred in any given situation. A time where one’s perceived credibility was based only upon what they said and how they said it. Those days, for better or worse, are gone. Let’s face facts, we live in a society where everyone is watching everyone else. From cell phones to police body cameras, and yes, even video surveillance, there are more eyes on us now than ever before in history. In fact, it is difficult to think of even a single high profile case where surveillance, in one form or another, has not been involved. Why is this you might ask? Because of the nature of the human psyche, people have an innate tendency to believe what they see. Something presented on a shiny flat screen becomes a tangible piece of evidence often closed to any further objective assessment. Thus the power of video generally and video surveillance specifically cannot be overstated.
As this technology grows more and more advanced and complicated so too do the issues surrounding its admissibility and constitutionality in the American Court System. Previously limited, linear videotape technology has given way to dynamic systems allowing vastly more coverage often at the expense of redefining or creating law to cover particularized situations. Likewise, since the acceptability of such evidence is directly tied to the way it was obtained, increased pressure exists for installers and end-users to establish proper processes for storage and preservation of digital video information, prevention of digital tampering, and creation of robust systems that provide confidence and translate to reliability in the underlying processes.
Assuming all those elements are properly met and mastered, video surveillance can and does play an invaluable role in assisting the jury in reaching a decision. Those in the industry need to be cognizant of these issues so that, in the end, they can properly and competently advise clients on both the benefits and limitations.
REGISTER Below to view the ONDemand Version
This webinar occurred on: April 19, 2017
Speaker:
Bryan DePowell, Prior to attending law school, Bryan DePowell spent 10 years as a veteran police officer in Northeast Pennsylvania where he gained invaluable experience and insight into the real world application of criminal law. In 2005, Bryan left his career in law enforcement to pursue his education. He attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa, in Honolulu, where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. Graduating with honors in 2007, he returned to Pennsylvania to attend Widener University in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Bryan completed his law degree in two-and-a-half years and was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in April 2010.
Since his admission he has focused his practice primarily in the area criminal law and, more specifically, in the areas of DUI, drug offenses and military law.
DePowell is also a certified operator of the Intoxilyzer 8000, the same breath testing device used by law enforcement agencies nationwide. When investigating military crime, Bryan uses the same techniques as the Army CID, NCIS, Air Force OSI, Marine Corps CID and the Coast Guard CGIS.
DePowell is currently admitted to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, as well as all Military service courts including the Army, Navy/Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard. He has also regularly appeared before various service discharge review boards and has extensive experience with issues involving military records corrections and the security clearance adjudication process. In addition to his criminal practice, Bryan speaks, writes and teaches in the areas of Criminal Law, DUI and Narcotics, and ethics.
Sponsor:
Arecont Vision Arecont Vision is the leading manufacturer of Made in USA megapixel video cameras, designed and built in California and customer-proven around the globe. Arecont Vision has won widespread industry recognition for camera design, including earning more 1105 Media Security Products GOVIES awards for megapixel cameras than any other vendor.
Arecont Vision introduced the industry’s 1st megapixel camera in 2004, followed by the 1st multi-sensor camera in 2006, and is now in its 5th generation of industry-leading cameras. Integrated with the leading VMS and NVR systems, Arecont Vision cameras are based on the in-house developed Massively Parallel Image Processing (MPIP) architecture. This architecture not only provides outstanding performance and product reliability, but also future-proofs Arecont Vision cameras with field updates to add new features and capabilities. The architecture also eliminates the risk of cyberattack by preventing the misuse and abuse of Arecont Vision cameras, preventing repurposing them to attack other networked devices, a condition that continues to afflict the rest of the industry.
www.arecontvision.com
AlertEnterprise Guardian Physical, extends all the benefits of common identity management to scale up to a much larger context with a common operating environment. It uniquely leverage existing Access Control systems by accounting for limits on the number of users a system can support and converting native systems to completely scalable enterprise systems with common provisioning and reporting across systems from multiple vendors. www.alertenterprise.com
Video Insight is a leading IP video surveillance management software used by over 25,000 customers in the financial, government, retail, and transportation sectors with a very strong presence in the education market consisting of 4,500 K-12 school/college customers. Video Insight is the easiest and most cost-effective enterprise VMS with support for over 2,400 camera models and integration with the top access control solutions in the market. www.video-insight.com
Duration: 1 Hour