Our analysis and examination of CCTV and other images has increased dramatically as they are increasingly being used as means of positive identification of suspects, even though they are usually incapable of doing so.

"For Glasgow, a 1999 study reported: "there was no evidence to suggest that the cameras had reduced crime overall in the city centre. The cameras appeared to have little effect on clear up rates for crimes and offences." 

"It is estimated that home office funded CCTV has costed the taxpayer £200m in the last 10 years. A comparison of the number of cameras in each London borough with the proportion of crimes solved there found that police are no more likely to catch offenders in areas with hundreds of cameras than in those with hardly any."

Given our experience, that is no surprise.  Most CCTV images we see are of poor quality.  So poor that identifying anyone is pretty much impossible.  Yet expectations of 'enhancement' are high.
 

Most of our cases involve very poor quality CCTV recordings (which may or may not represent the original quality – we normally get our copies via the police).  It’s pretty much standard that two police officers will claim to have identified someone from the video.  The general issue is therefore whether there is sufficient quality within the images to positively identify an individual.

Films like ‘The Bourne Identity’ and the movie spooks' plea to, “Enhance that”, quickly followed by a completely obscure image suddenly magically becoming clear as day, and even seen from a different angle (see it all in, ‘Enemy of the State’ for example wherein a shop CCTV camera recording shows not only the ‘shadow’ of a carrier bag changing, but the other side of the bag!) may have you believe in the impossible.  In the real world such ambition is constrained by the resolution of the original image.  Just consider the 2016 bombing of Brussels Airport and the best that Interpol could achieve from the CCTV footage.

We assess footage and images to assess whether the quality is sufficient to positively identify individuals or objects.

We provide a free estimateContact us.

 

 

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