Video Storage Solutions for Police Departments in Large Cities: What Works, What It Costs

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2 Executive Summary Police departments nationwide are turning to video recording and storage solutions for interviews conducted by police officers. The typical Video Interview System (VIS) offers several advantages: Protection of rights. Both citizens and police officers benefit. Increased conviction rates. Proper interview procedures are conclusively documented. (Audio alone does not suffice; video gives the complete picture.) Fewer lawsuits. Video recording discourages suits against officers and helps gain dismissal of other suits, thus protecting departments against expensive judgments. (Avoiding the cost of one lawsuit can pay for an entire VIS.) Greater productivity. Officers spend less time in court and more time on the street. A VIS streamlines evidence search and retrieval as well. The VIS may include from one to dozens of interview sites, with multiple rooms at each site. The most sophisticated solutions are Digital Video Asset Management systems that capture video recordings, safeguard those video assets, and provide online access to videos for detectives during investigations. One major consideration in implementing a VIS is storage costs. Digital video files require large amounts of data. Total storage costs are also affected by factors such as the number and duration of recorded interviews, video file formats, how long online access to stored videos is required, and how long videos are retained. Fortunately, cost-effective solutions are currently available. The experience of two major cities, Chicago and Washington, D.C., has proven that the right VIS can meet police department requirements at an affordable cost, even in the largest and most complex scenarios. This white paper examines those experiences and presents VIS options for other cities. 1

3 A growing need for a dependable solution As of early 2007, about 300 of nearly 19,000 police departments in the United States used some form of video recording and storage system. The number is expected to grow rapidly as legislatures mandate the recording of interviews and more police departments realize the benefits to be had. Such legislative mandates require appropriate funding to support proper implementation. The stakes are high, because video recordings of interviews are evidence that can impact on convictions of criminals. As evidence, such recordings must be dependably recorded and handled according to law, in order to meet requirements such as providing a chain of custody. The right hardware makes it easier Some police departments have bought off-the-shelf, consumer-grade electronics from local retailers and have been disappointed by the resulting poor quality, lack of reliability, and inability to play videos in court without special equipment. Such hardware, from camcorders to digital video recorders (DVRs) to DVD burners, is not designed with features such as backup recording to capture critical confessions and access control that requires authorization. Nor does such a system provide ironclad security and automatic backup to prevent losing a conviction due to corrupted or lost video files. Other police departments have taken the next step: a Digital Video Asset Management (DVAM) solution that stores video on a server and allows online access and review to support ongoing investigations and logs all access / operational requests. Larger metropolitan areas require a design to accommodate their specific physical layout and business processes used to capture video. For example, in New York City the district attorney s office has 41 interview rooms in a single location. At this site data protection would include system redundancy to prevent loss of video during recording. Local storage of data is important, but networking was not a major consideration in this design. 2

4 Other large cities may have interview rooms dispersed in multiple precincts. Instead of having several single-site systems that are independent, it may be more efficient to provide video storage at a central location with online access to networked servers in other words, a metropolitan, enterprise-level solution. Such networking also allows efficient sharing of video evidence by criminal justice personnel. It is important to note that all DVAM systems are not created equal and it s more than a matter of hardware. A generic solution will lack software that meets the evidentiary needs of the criminal justice system. Fortunately, such custom-designed software is available. DVAM vs. DVR: a comparison shows there s no comparison Some police departments may be tempted to purchase a digital video recorder (DVR) at an electronics retailer, plus a DVD burner. A professional Digital Video Asset Management (DVAM) system, complete with high-powered server and backup options, offers far greater performance and protection of video evidence. Key features for video used as evidence DVAM DVR Chain of Custody Yes No Configurable index data to store and retrieve video files Yes No Multi-tiered security to control assess to vide files Yes No Text overlay identifying recording info (time, place, etc.) Yes Some Audio and Video Recording Synchronization Yes Some Scalable architecture to support system expansion Yes No Online video file storage available to support investigators Yes No Considerations that impact storage cost Video requires about 500 MB to 1 GB of storage per hour if you use the latest file format (MPEG4) that optimizes electronic file compression. But with today s high-capacity servers, tape drives, and data storage arrays, that requirement can be supported in a cost-effective way. 3

5 In addition, legislative and policy variables can affect storage costs: Type of interview recorded. For capital crimes? Violent crimes? All criminal cases? All cases of any kind? How long the evidence is maintained. All cases for one year? Until the case is closed? Until appeals are settled? How the evidence is stored. On an online server? Near online with automated retrieval? Offline? This involves a trade-off between accessibility and cost, as shown in the table. Video storage options: convenience vs. cost per terabyte (TB) A terabyte (TB) is 1,024 gigabytes (GB), or about 1,550 hours worth of video data. Storage Type Convenience Cost Online Immediate $6,000 / TB Near online Slight delay to access data $3,000 / TB Offline Automated retrieval of data $333 / TB Please note: Figures are estimated as of February The cost of digital storage decreases with continual technology enhancements similar to other technologies in today s marketplace. A tale of three cities Both Chicago and Washington, D.C. have successfully implemented a VIS, with each solution meeting a different need at a different cost. Here we compare those solutions with a hypothetical one for Los Angeles. 4

6 Video Storage Solutions for Police Departments City Population VIS architecture Storage Cost Chicago 2.8 M 50 rooms total at 6 sites (4 TB of storage/site + 50 TB of offsite storage) $160,650 Washington DC.5 M 31 rooms total at 16 single sites (1.5 TB of online storage/site) $144,000 Los Angeles 3.6 M Without a system design an extrapolate of storage requirements based on population Ranges from $200K to $1M depending on storage polices and design details Thinking ahead: not just for interviews The main purpose of a Video Interview Solution is implicit in the name. But once an investment is made in managing video assets online, a police department can leverage this investment to reap the benefits of an entire criminal justice solutions suite. This accommodates additional police video that has the potential of becoming evidence, such as in-car and general surveillance video. Criminal Justice Solutions Suite Inputs CLEARView Gunshot Detection Survelliance Video Interview Rooms In-car video Digital Encoder (For Analog Sources Only) Forensics Documents Application Servers Video Servers MEDIASolv Storage Layered Voice Analysis Archive Full Business Workflow Full Text Search Analytics Language Translation Tools Enterprise & Multi-locations and Centralized Storage 5

7 Conclusion: a cost-effective solution whose time has come Police departments in large cities such as Chicago and Washington, D.C., as well as hundreds of mid-size and small cities nationwide, have proven that today s Video Interview Solutions are beneficial and affordable law enforcement tools. With the many technical and policy options now available, video storage costs are no barrier to implementation. This white paper has been authored by TranTech, provider of a turnkey, end-to-end VIS solution designed for the criminal justice system. It includes all hardware plus MEDIASolv software, which fulfills the chain of custody and security requirements for digital evidence. For more information call , mediasolv@trantech-inc.com, or visit TranTech, Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks are property of their respective owners. Complete, turnkey, scalable solutions for police departments of all sizes Evidence-quality video management with MediaSolv software Easy to use Affordable Currently used by police departments in Chicago and Washington, D.C. * * * 6