Scyron – the Birmingham-based security and surveillance services company – has launched a new software package which it claims will help transform the effectiveness of UK police services’ management of digital evidence.
The company, which is based at the Longbridge Technology Park, says its Demon software system is the world’s most advanced and comprehensive end-to-end digital evidence management suite, allowing police to view, analyse, prepare and present as evidence for court all manner of digital information, including video/CCTV, photographs, scanned documents, audio and mobile phone evidence.
The Demon suite comprises a number of software modules that work independently as well as together to make the extraction, analysis, preparation and presentation of digital evidence simple, easy-to-use, rapid and cost effective.
An automated video content analysis module within the suite is based on an intelligent algorithm capable of automatically identifying specific incidents. This is combined with a powerful manual review and digital asset management tool that provides rigorous control over the entire evidence process.
For example, it allows multiple officers to simultaneously review a single piece of video evidence, enabling them to make notes and tag scenes without duplicating evidence. This can drastically reduce the time involved in investigating and preparing evidence for major incidents.
Scyron also says that software provides a secure and tamper-proof audit trail of evidence to comply with DPA, ACPO, Home Office and MoPI guidelines.
“There’s nothing like it on the market,” said Scyron chief executive Mike Wilks. “It was developed following consultation with operational officers and addresses all the pain points associated in handling digital evidence, from its extraction as raw data to its final presentation in court.” Importantly, Demon creates a digital bit-for-bit copy of the video evidence, ensuring full-compliance with evidence laws.
The technology has been developed during the last four years and proved its value when piloted in Operation Siluga, the West Midlands Police investigation of the Aston riots. which involved 271 crimes, two murders and 5,000 hours of CCTV footage. Using the Demon Suite, officers were able to quickly extract, analyse, manage and present highly complex evidence, saving time and money.
The system saved police time and helped secure 11 convictions.
Superintendent Una Cooke, head of the major investigations unit at West Midlands Police, said: “Without this technology it was felt that the case would have lasted at least another three weeks and, also, that it would have been extremely difficult for the jury to be able to follow the evidence against the individual defendants.”
Demon evidence management systems are in use with six UK police services: Derbyshire; Greater Manchester Police; Northumbria; Warwickshire; West Mercia and West Midlands Police which helped in its development.
Detective Sergeant Andrew Townsend at West Midlands Police, said: “It offers us time savings and we now have a set of evidence tools that provide us with quality management information at the click of a button.”
