NCJ Number
219975
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 34 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2007 Pages: 76,78,80,82,83
Date Published
July 2007
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the benefits of wireless video networks for various law enforcement operations, as well as the sharing of multimedia information among officers.
Abstract
Video conveys critical information about what is happening at a scene more quickly, efficiently, and accurately than voice communications. As video cameras and laptop computers become standard issue in law enforcement vehicles, leveraging wireless communications to capitalize on the capabilities of broadband multimedia is becoming less expensive and easier to apply. Wireless video provides a first-person perspective of a scene without positioning an officer at the location, saving resources. It provides virtual back-up by sending imagery to other patrol cars, the dispatch center, and the watch commander, improving officer safety. Portable, remote surveillance systems can be deployed to monitor suspected drug houses or other sites prior to raids. There can also be access to video from existing closed-circuit TV systems inside or outside buildings. Video images can be relayed to officers arriving at the scene of an incident, improving their situational awareness. The most efficient means of distributing such multimedia applications among officers are wireless mobile mesh networks. These networks enable officers to communicate device-to-device without requiring any fixed infrastructure at the scene of an incident. Each user serves as another connection in the network. This article describes patrol and tactical applications for video at field line-ups (perpetrator identification), traffic pursuits, pre-strike location surveillance, traffic monitoring, virtual back-up for such events as traffic stops, vehicle or suspect identification, and public/private partnerships.