Surveillance is the monitoring of behaviour. In addition, surveillance system is the process of monitoring the behaviour of people, objects or processes within systems for conformity to expected or desired norms in trusted systems for security control (Cohen and Medioni, 1999). Video surveillance systems have existed 25 years ago whereby it started with 100% analogue system and gradually becoming digital system. The closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera is the most popular video surveillance because of its reliability and low price. The camera does not broadcast images but it records them, so that user can always check to see what occurred while they were away. It is widely used at public spaces and residences for security purposes.
In many countries the used of surveillance videos have been growing intensively. As a consequence, a large number of crimes were successfully recorded by the surveillance videos. Therefore, the question of identification of the person on the recording media or digital images is sent to the forensic experts more frequently. However, this can be a formidable task especially when the recordings are in bad quality and enhanced footage have failed to reveal the face (identity) of the suspect. Most of this problem is caused by the resolution of the system, uncalibrated equipment and the lack of efficient and practical method to identify the criminal suspect through surveillance images.
There are many private companies or public spaces still using CCTV (analogue) at low resolution formats for surveillance purposes. Analogue CCTV has great disadvantage in resolution compared to megapixels or high resolution CCTV (Cavoukian, 2001). According to Ratcliffe (2006) analogue resolution is enough for general su...
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...omated detection of lines and points in the images and the use of smart markers in reference video recordings.
On the other hand, to deal with the second (ii) problem which is uncertainties about the pose, the shoes, the hair and caps of the suspect, several practical solutions are chosen, such as using solely images in which the perpetrator is standing straight up, and reporting estimation for the body length that includes shoes, hair and caps. Some investigators use computer models of human beings that are superimposed on the images. The pose of these models can be changed to make them look like the perpetrator in the images. One of these approaches has been published by (Lynnerup and Vedel, 2005). The most important conclusion is that for every case, reference video recordings of people with known lengths are crucial to estimate the systematic and random error.
Every type of building, from a high tech research lab, to a grocery store and even private residences can gain a physical security advantage utilizing CCTV video surveillance to guard against theft and break-ins. CCTV is a great tool for the security professional. It records everything on hours of tape. All that transpires be it; a routine day, a theft or robbery, arguments between employees, irate customers etc. But with all types of CCTV systems on the market one must choose what best fits their needs. As noted by Baker & Benny (2013) “ when considering the design and selection of a video surveillance system, the physical security designer, user, or integrator needs to consider the individual needs of each use case and market with which he or she is working” (p. 123). As in the case of Stew Leonard’s Grocery store, their CCTV’s systems includes 500 cameras! That is a lot of video to review for theft investigations. In the situation concerning the monitoring of the Innsbrook Resort residential properties, the security firm wanted to reduce the amount of false alarms that were occurring and the associated time wasted responding to them (Purvis, 2012, para. 12). In both cases, the clients
McNamara, J. M. (2009). Sketchy Eyewitness-Identification Procedures:A Proposal to Draw up Legal Guidelines For The Use of Facial Composites in Criminal Investigations. Univesity of Wisconsin Law School, 764-799.
I personally feel that this is a much more reliable and accurate than relying on the testimony of witnesses. I believe through the use of science we as a society can now make sure that the guilty are caught and punished while the innocent are protected from wrongful prosecution. However the eyewitness should not be completely left out of the case against the possible offender. After it is determined through scientific evidence, in this case DNA, that the physically involved in the crime then witnesses can be brought in to give testimony that the offender was present at the crime scene or the victim can be sure that the accused was truly the one involved in the actual crime.
The following paper explores a homicide scene at a convenience store / gas station at 3 a.m. The material of the investigation is represented with a number of visible evidence, the dead body with an apparent gunshot wound in the chest and the testimony of the first officer at the scene. The paper is divided into four parts, including the general overview (introduction), latent impression processing, people’s involvement investigation procedure and evidence package for the further fingerprint analysis. The crime scene investigation protocol used in this paper includes interview, examination, photographing, sketching and processing itself (Castleman, 2000: 23). Observing the homicide scene we omit the analysis of the preliminary procedures as security of the scene, integrity precautions, photographing and sketching.
A powerful worldwide surveillance system is being built up and the world is being watched. Spy satellites are orbiting the earth, those are the eyes in the sky, and millions of video cameras and other sensors are scattered on the earth, the eyes and ears on the ground. The computer networks are continually growing, the brians of the system. Implantable microchips with miniature digital transceivers are attached to many objects and animals, and lately to some hu...
All the developed countries (developing countries are also in no way lagging behind) the incidence of the people being monitored under various surveillance systems is high of which closed circuit television system (CCTV) is gaining dominance. For instance, the UK has over 4.2 million of them, giving it a ratio of one for every 14 persons and the USA is reported to have been installing it on a rapid pace in every conceivable location as town centers, schools, public transportation systems etc with a spiraling budget estimated at $100 million. With the terrorists attacks looming large in the wake of 9/11 attacks and despite the killing of Osama Bin Laden, the trends are going towards more and more technology oriented surveillance methods. This has naturally caused widespread concerns about the privacy issues and necessitated more evidence based research to inform policy and practice.
In this paper, I will look at what can go wrong in eyewitness identification. We will discuss if eyewitness identification can be considered valid evidence for convicting individuals of a crime. And what precautions can be put into place to protect individuals from wrongful conviction and help make the process more trustworthy.
Many people live in fear that they are constantly being watched. Michael Jackson sang it best in the 80 's by saying, "I always feel like, somebody 's watching me," in his hit song with Rockwell. That 's exactly what the NSA and other government organizations are doing today with domestic surveillance. Everywhere Americans go and every corner they turn there is a camera, and every website or email they send is being monitored closely. So what can society do about this? Educate others on the situation and stand up for what is right. Some people believe they must give up some freedoms for protection, but at what cost? What is happening in America is not what the founding fathers fought for. Domestic surveillance should not be allowed because
Surveillance cameras have evolved and have become more sophisticated over the years. With advanced technology cameras are now equipped with high definition imaging, audio, and even night vision. It is important for law enforcement to be equipped with this advanced technology when it comes to deterring and solving crimes. To explain, high definition cameras provide better image quality which makes it easier to provide officers, citizens, and the media with a distinctive description of the suspect or persons of interest. With this high quality imaging police are able to read words off a newspaper or a book from a light pole twenty feet away; this is a vital aspect that can help law enforcement officials with solving various types of crimes. Next, audio will help catch any verbal exchanges between the suspect and the victim. For example, if a gang affiliated subject was allegedly involved in an altercation with a rival gang member and are standing within a certain radius of the surveillance...
Rape, murder, theft, and other crimes almost always leave a devastating mark on the victim. More often than not, it would be impossible to identify the perpetrator a crime without forensic science and the technology it uses. Forensic science allows investigators to unmask the secrets of the crime scene. Evidence gathered at the crime scene helps to identify the guilty party, murder weapon, and even the identity of the victim (Harkawy, 1991: 276). The new technologies enables the forensic experts to have better and faster access to accumulated information, to be more accurate in the identification of victims or delinquents, and minimizes the possibility of wrongful accusations. New technology has improved the methods and techniques that forensic scientists and law enforcement investigators use, in order to provide a safer environment for other people. Information technology is one of the most important aspects in forensic science. It is very important for the forensic experts to receive the undisturbed evidence, such as fingerprints left at the crime scene, as quickly as possible, for more accurate readings. Thus using space technology, such as satellite communication, enables the forensic experts to "gather and digitize evidence at the crime scene, enter it into an on-site computer, and beam the data to a crime lab for swift analysis" (Paula, 1998: 12). Therefore, due to the use of this technology, forensic experts in laboratories can examine the evidence in short time, and the possibility of damage or unlawful manipulation of the evidence before the trial is minimal (Paula, 1998: 12). More often than not, "criminals" wear gloves at the time of the crime, thus to obtain a fingerprint...
The history of the modern media surveillance systems begins first with the invention of the computer and the use of software. Before the internet, information was only transported between computers by a physical storage device or an extremely expensive network. Software for media surveillance was only used to scan the media that was available in data form for particular key words. It could then be stored and indexed to be later analyzed. (Sarlós, 1982)
In the modern day era, we find in society a ubiquitous usage of technology that seems to be never ending and forever growing. Included with this notion, the broad subject of surveillance is of course included. Contemporary surveillance, or more specifically technological surveillance, has been described as ambiguous; meaning that it is often misunderstood or open to different interpretations. The representation of surveillance within popular culture has played an impacting role on how we as a society perceive it and this raises certain questions that may reflect back on to society. The 1998 film Enemy Of The State directed by Tony Scott, Starring Will Smith, Gene Hackman and Jon Voight is considered to be a ‘spy-thriller’ blockbuster. Its central themes explore a range of surveillance techniques and equipment and also provides some insights, no matter how realistic or unrealistic they may be, into the real life security organisation; The National Security Agency (NSA). Using this film as an example and analysing how these themes are represented will hopefully allow us to key these ideas back to modern surveillance theories and practices.
Eyewitness identification is presented as evidence quite often in the criminal justice system. The reliability and accuracy of an eyewitness testimony is still being researched today. Over 300 wrongful convictions have been exonerated including 75% of those wrongful convictions done by eyewitness misidentification, have been overturned through DNA evidence according to the Innocence Project. A person’s memories are not videotaped therefore recalling a specific event can be challenging and inaccurate. There are many factors that that can intervene with the accuracy of which an individual remembers an event or more specific, a face. These factors include, their mental state, the weapon focus, the cross-race effect and the influence of both line-ups
In this study, witnesses viewed a crime video and attempted to identify the culprit from a group line-up that did not actually have the culprit present. 253 mistaken-identification eyewitnesses were randomly given confirming, disconfirming, or no feedback regarding their description of the culprit or the culprit’s identification. The feedback process was either immediate or delayed for 48 hours, and measures were also immediate or delayed for 48 hours. It was shown that those who were given confirming feedback gave more distorted information. They had increased confidence in remembering what had happened, were able to make out facial details and their length of time to identify the culprit changed. There was also no difference in their statements when they were asked immediately or after 48 hours. Those who received disconfirming feedback were not so confident and took longer time to identify the culprit.
“Each light has a different preset wavelength designed to detect hair, fibers, and body fluids at crime scenes, these lights allow a crime scene to be processed faster and more thoroughly than ever before.” This technology is speedy and can help locate the whereabouts of criminals. The use of in-car camera systems has become very popular, especially by law enforcement. These cameras are used to record traffic stops and road violations of civilians. “From the time the first in-car cameras were installed to document roadside impaired-driving sobriety tests, the cameras have captured both intended and unintended video footage that has established their value. Most video recordings have resulted in convictions; many provide an expedited means to resolve citizen complaints, exonerate officers from accusations, and serve as police training videos.” Photo enforcement systems helps to maintain road safety by “automatically generating red light violations and/or speeding summons and as a result to greatly improve safety for the motoring public.” (Schultz,