In recent years, policing in the United Kingdom – particularly when it comes to digital evidence management – has undergone a significant transformation, leveraging technology to become more efficient.
The widespread use of digital devices such as surveillance cameras, mobile phones, body-worn cameras, and more drives this change.
Crime has gone digital, and evidence is predominantly captured in a digital format. Think of any crime that comes to mind, whether a simple convenience store robbery or a street stabbing in London; it's all documented digitally through surveillance.
Astonishingly, according to research by Clarion Security Systems, London alone boasts more than 942,562 CCTV cameras, translating to one CCTV camera for every ten residents in the capital!
This revelation is a clear reminder of how deeply digital technology has penetrated policing. It's not merely a transformation; it's a necessity in a world where evidence is predominantly digital.
This blog will explore how digital evidence management is revolutionizing policing in the UK.
However, if you are stressed for time, skip right to our 7-day free trial (no credit card required).
Traditional Policing in the UK
The National Policing Digital Strategy 2020-2030 highlights that the nature of "traditional" threats has evolved with digital platforms and technology.
Let's examine some limitations of traditional policing:
- Paper-Based Records: Traditional policing relied heavily on paper-based records, causing delays and the risk of misplacement or loss of important documents.
- Inefficient Data Retrieval: Manually searching through physical records was time-consuming and error-prone, hindering prompt access to information.
- Limited Storage Capacity: Traditional physical storage had restricted capacity, leading to challenges in accessing archived data for older cases. An article highlights the contrast in data storage costs, where traditional data storage methods could cost up to $1 million. In contrast, modern techniques allow storage for as low as 2 cents per gigabyte.
These bottlenecks highlight the need for a digital solution to keep up with the growing volume of evidence from modern digital devices.
We require a secure and efficient solution for retrieving evidence from a central location accessible from anywhere.
This is why a Digital Evidence Management System is the need of the hour for modern policing in the United Kingdom.
What is a Digital Evidence Management System (DEMS)?
A Digital Evidence Management System (DEMS) is specialized software that stores, manages, and preserves digital evidence efficiently in one dashboard.
Besides that. It also leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) to streamline evidence handling. You'll be pleasantly surprised by what a DEMS can achieve.
But, rather than just taking our word for it, we invite you to explore it firsthand through a free demo of our Digital Evidence Management System (DEMS).
5 Ways Digital Evidence Management is Transforming Policing in the UK
Let's delve into five ways proper digital evidence management is transforming policing in the United Kingdom:
1. Quick and Efficient Evidence Retrieval
As the volume of digital evidence grows, it becomes increasingly challenging for police officials to retrieve case-specific evidence.
Recovering evidence from manual case files was even more difficult in the past. So, how can the police effectively handle this changing landscape of digital evidence in modern policing?
A Digital Evidence Management System (DEMS) is precisely what you need. It allows you to locate specific evidence files using AI-powered autogenerated tags.
A DEMS can also narrow down searches using user and system-generated parameters such as Case ID and lead officer.
2. Improved Collaboration
A Digital Evidence Management System enhances teamwork by allowing multiple officers to access and work on the same evidence simultaneously, streamlining investigations.
What's great about this advanced software is that it enables safe and secure sharing of evidence through tokenized URLs, restricting access to authorized personnel within your police force.
3. Securing Sensitive Digital Evidence
Securing digital evidence becomes more challenging for the police due to its sensitive nature and increasing volume.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) emphasizes the vulnerability of digital evidence and the risk of alterations due to mishandling.
To address these concerns, a solution is needed to ensure that sensitive digital evidence remains secure and accessible only to authorized personnel.
A DEMS excels in this, mainly through its Role-Based Access Control feature. This feature grants authorized users exclusive access to sensitive digital evidence by assigning specific roles and permissions within the organization, enhancing security and access control.
Additionally, a Digital Evidence Management System provides audit trails that track who accessed your evidence and when.
4. Protecting Evidence Integrity
A Digital Evidence Management System incorporates tamper detection mechanisms by generating hash values for the original evidence and verifying it for any changes.
This provides the final layer of protection, guaranteeing the security of your evidence from collection to its presentation in court.
5. Easy Documentation of Evidence for Court Proceedings
Traditionally, police officers had to manually document every word within video or audio evidence and present it as contextual evidence in court.
This laborious and time-consuming process is no longer necessary when using a Digital Evidence Management System (DEMS).
A Digital Evidence Management System takes the lead when it comes to Artificially Intelligent Solutions. It offers AI-powered automatic transcriptions for audio and video evidence through Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR).
But there's more to it. A DEMS can go further by capturing words within objects and any text on your screen, such as license plates and road signs, making it all easily readable through advanced technology like Optical Character Recognition (OCR).
VIDIZMO DEMS: Transform Modern-Day Policing Now!
Let us explain why VIDIZMO DEMS is the perfect solution to transform your agency's policing and bring you up to speed with modern-day practices:
- Comprehensive Features: We offer efficient digital evidence management features, including extensive AI capabilities. See for yourself with a single click.
- Security and Compliance: Designed for evidence security, integrity, and legal compliance.
- Flexible Deployment: Choose a secure AWS or Azure government cloud or on-premises options that suit your organization's needs. Explore our multiple deployment options.
Get a free seven-day trial for the VIDIZMO Digital Evidence Management System now. Or simply contact us, and we'll guide you through everything!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is an evidence management system?
An evidence management system is software used to securely store, track, and manage physical and digital evidence for law enforcement and legal purposes.
What are examples of digital evidence?
Digital evidence includes emails, photos, videos, social media posts, computer files, and other electronic data used in legal investigations.
What are the sources of digital evidence?
Sources of digital evidence can be computers, smartphones, cloud storage, social media platforms, and surveillance cameras, among others.
What is the role of digital evidence?
Digital evidence is crucial in legal proceedings by providing electronic proof of events, actions, or communications, aiding investigations and court cases.
