License Plate Recognition and Homicide ... - City of Park Ridge

CITY OF PARK RIDGE
POLICE DEPARTMENT
M E M O R A N D U M
DATE: March 7, 2012
TO:
FROM:
RE:
Chief Frank Kaminski
Commander Lou Jogmen
Homicide Investigation Recording System
As you are aware, 725 ILCS 5/103-2.1 of the State of Illinois complied statutes requires police
agencies to electronically record and preserve custodial interrogations which arise out of a homicide
investigation. The department was in compliance with this statute, however, during the recent homicide
investigation, we learned that the equipment was defective and inoperable. This discovery forced us to
conduct the interviews and house the suspect at another police agency. Clearly, this was not the preferred
method of conducting an interview.
That being said, we took this opportunity to review the strengths and weaknesses of our current
system prior to making any repairs and/or purchasing new equipment. This review identified several areas
of concern. The system was designed to record the data directly from the monitor to a disc. This method
presented two challenges. First, there is no way for operators to know if the data is being written to the
disc as it is being captured. This means that the first opportunity to confirm that the system is operating as
intended is after the disc is full. If it is determined that it was not working properly, there is no way to go
back and recapture the interview. Secondly, operators are required to change discs during the interview as
they become full. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office has advised us that this method could have
serious ramifications when presented in court. The fact that there would be breaks or pauses in the
recording could lead to their inadmissibility.
Given this information, I solicited the assistance of our Information Technology staff. They
advised me that when the department first sought to meet the requirements of the state statute, they
researched the options available and made a recommendation that the department utilize the Arbitrator
(In-car) software. At that time, the department elected to go with an alternate solution. After being
presented with the most recent issue, IT staff strongly recommends that the department purchase and
implement the Arbitrator software solution. This solution has several distinct advantages. The first is that
we already have the requisite software. This camera would integrate with the existing in-car camera
system. Second, the data is written to a hard drive on the City’s network. It, then, becomes available
immediately for review and the operator can ensure that the system is operating as intended. Furthermore,
this method addresses the issue of breaks or pauses. This system has worked well with our in-car video
evidence. Finally, the information captured from the interview is stored on the City network and is backed
up.
I am recommending that we purchase the necessary equipment from CDS Office Technologies
and that we expand our current in-car video system for use as the department’s homicide investigation
recording system.
OUR MISSION:
THE CITY OF PARK RIDGE IS COMMITTED TO PROVIDING EXCELLENCE IN CITY SERVICES IN ORDER TO UPHOLD
A HIGH QUALITY OF LIFE, SO OUR COMMUNITY REMAINS A WONDERFUL PLACE TO LIVE AND WORK.