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Chicago's approach to video enhancement helps solve crimes
From his office in the Chicago (Illinois) Police Department's 16th District Tactical Unit, Lt. Joe Schober reviews the usual array of case and arrest reports collected over the past 24-hour period. But in recent years, a few new items have been added to the information he must review This new information comes in the form of video sources from retailers and gas stations, and these videos contain footage of robberies or thefts.
Two years ago, it was considered unusual if a district or area received more than one or two videotapes or disks a week. Today officials might receive two or more videos per day. The influx of video recordings requiring viewing and processing created a variety of problems. All video sources coming into police custody must be inventoried and subsequently viewed by a special sections unit. The equipment the section traditionally used was quite sophisticated but not intended to deal with a variety of video sources. Additionally, the manpower allocated for video workups remained the same while the number of incoming videos increased. Determining which videos to review first also became a concern. Videos containing information on violent crimes receive top billing. This translated into increasing delays, and as such delays multiplied, the opportunity to successfully pursue criminals recorded on video dwindled.
But the utility of video cannot be underestimated and thus Chicago had to find a means to address these problems.
"There's a big difference between the offender descriptions provided in the identification boxes of a case report and the description that can be seen when reviewing video of an actual crime," explains Det. Jim Adams of Chicago PD's Area Five Detective Division.
A major benefit of having good video is that it can be repeatedly reviewed, diminishing the chance for confusion. For instance, victims are often so traumatized during the commission of a crime that their acuity, even within minutes of the event, can be drastically and detrimentally affected. If the suspect brandishes a gun or a knife, victims often focus on the weapon rather than the offender. Descriptions of height, weight and age are frequently so subjective that two people witnessing the same incident may give police entirely different accounts.
Furthermore,...