log in
register

Some important information about evidential helmet-cam footage.

  • This topic has 12 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 10 years ago by Eric D.
  • Creator
    Topic
  • June 9, 2016 at 5:35 pm #25861
    StraelGuy

    I work for a large northern police force and spent quarter of an hour this morning talking to a brilliant officer who deals exclusively with cycling issues.

     

    I was asking him how useable footage of bad driving and accidents etc actually is to the police when the public bring it in (and dash-cam footage from drivers)?

     

    He said they can totally use it, if the footage shows that a crime has been commited, a prosecution can and will be initiated… BUT don’t share it before the police and CPS decide if they can make a case. If the footage is all over Facebook and Youtube, ie public, it can seriously hamper your chances in court.

     

    Just thought I’d share this (with his total agreement) as it may help one of us some day.

  • Creator
    Topic
Viewing 12 replies - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)
  • Author
    Replies
  • June 11, 2016 at 6:34 pm #873075
    0
    Eric D
    racyrich wrote:
    Can someone please explain why sharing a video of a crime reduces its effectiveness in court.

    Video evidence is not completely objective – still very much open to interpretation. It is possible that a story may be constructed around the video (eg using what is not shown) to give an opposite interpretation of events. It is best to have expert thorough observation, and keep the discussion and analysis in court, rather than internet forums. 

    Worst case is that a member of the jury sees discussion about it, unfairly influencing their verdict. ‘Unsafe’ convictions, collapse of trial, re-trial is rare. Local papers tend just to copy and paste police non-prejudicial press releases, without allowing public comment. See ‘sub-judice‘.

    Another risk is that defence may ask for ‘public shaming’ to be taken into account, and the existing damage to reputation/business reduces the official sentence/fine. Then reduced punishment becomes the norm.

    Or it may be seen as being or encouraging ‘vigilante’ action – taking the law into one’s own hands. I think there have been cases where innocent company telephonists have endured verbal abuse!

    On the wider topic:

    “West Midlands Police was going to introduce a new way of “self-reporting” due care and attention type road traffic offences”
    They’re still talking about it.

    Greater Manchester Police have a policy

    Bradford Police are joining in themselves!

    June 11, 2016 at 6:11 pm #873073
    0
    tritecommentbot
    racyrich wrote:
    Can someone please explain why sharing a video of a crime reduces its effectiveness in court.

     

    Mostly because it can prejudice a jury or in some way stop the defendant having a fair trial. Generally speaking UK courts love evidence and they’ll take anything they can get even if it’s a bit dodgy in how it was attained. Think that’s supposed to be changing these days, but anyway, when it comes to prejudice it’s so serious that you can have the whole case turfed out on that basis alone. So, best keeping it to yourself until it’s been shown in court and you’ve been told you can publish it.

     

    That said, you’re always free to publish it. There’s no penalty there, just you might give the CPS a headache.

     

    This situation must be massively common these days with all the phone cams and GoPros etc around capturing crimes. Love to hear some recent case law on it to see how the courts are handling it in practise. They may simply advise the jury to avoid watching it.

    June 11, 2016 at 4:17 pm #873071
    0
    racyrich

    Can someone please explain

    Can someone please explain why sharing a video of a crime reduces its effectiveness in court.

    June 11, 2016 at 2:58 pm #873069
    0
    hawkinspeter
    guyrwood wrote:
    Hawkinspete, police forces have to be extremely vigilant about IT security issues because of the amount of confidential data they hold. I know my force will not allow officers access to online storage services such as OneDrive and Dropbox purely due to the tiny potential for something going wrong.

     

    It is inconvenient but posting the officer a burned DVD or small capacity memory stick should only cost a quid or two.

    I was able to chop the clip down to a relevant 5 seconds (watching the traffic light turn red, then turning round to catch the car trying to jump the light until I motioned to cross which forced him to stop) and emailed it to them. Thus, they could use whatever email solution they want to – I was not encouraging them to use any kind of cloud storage.

    Now, I work in I.T. and am aware of issues with email attachments, but they are not insurmountable (a decent O.S. understands the difference between executables and data).

    June 11, 2016 at 6:29 am #873067
    0
    StraelGuy

    Hawkinspete, police forces

    Hawkinspete, police forces have to be extremely vigilant about IT security issues because of the amount of confidential data they hold. I know my force will not allow officers access to online storage services such as OneDrive and Dropbox purely due to the tiny potential for something going wrong.

     

    It is inconvenient but posting the officer a burned DVD or small capacity memory stick should only cost a quid or two.

    June 11, 2016 at 5:31 am #873065
    0
    CXR94Di2

    Redvee wrote:

    Redvee wrote:

    I took footage into A&S Police of a deliberate close pass, the driver changed lanes to make the close pass. Despite the officer handling the case writing the registered keeper, nothing came of it though he did tell me to be wary of my actions as they were also on camera. As the driver drov off after passing close to me I put up my middle finger and said wanchor(sp), the officer said I shouldn’t have reacted like I did. Given the way the driver drove to me how are you supposed to react?

    I suggest that the close pass put you in a “state of immediate shock in fear of your life/well being, so instant flight or fight response manifested itself in your instant outburst”.

    Yes?

    I had a recent chap pull along side shouting out of his window about riding 2 abreast, this was after he was aggressively sounding his horn behind us.
    My response wasn’t normal behaviour but a reaction to my life being threatened.!

    June 11, 2016 at 3:40 am #873063
    0
    Stumps

    If you feel hard done to for

    If you feel hard done to for whatever reason, either close pass, verbally abusive driver or whatever, phone the Police and ask for an officer to attend your address.

    When they arrive hand over the cctv and ask for the incident number plus their details so you can check up with them at a later date. At least it means they have it rather than running the risk of sending it in.

     

    June 11, 2016 at 12:29 am #873061
    0
    Redvee

    I took footage into A&S

    I took footage into A&S Police of a deliberate close pass, the driver changed lanes to make the close pass. Despite the officer handling the case writing the registered keeper, nothing came of it though he did tell me to be wary of my actions as they were also on camera. As the driver drov off after passing close to me I put up my middle finger and said wanchor(sp), the officer said I shouldn’t have reacted like I did. Given the way the driver drove to me how are you supposed to react?

    June 10, 2016 at 4:32 pm #873059
    0
    Carton
    unconstituted wrote:
    Yeah it’s odd that there isn’t a sophisticated portal to submit evidence to the police and report crimes. Bet their systems are mad dated.

    Most government systems are dated before they’re even delivered. But this week we learned that the US nuclear arsenal relies on computers with floppy drives. Après ça le déluge.

    June 10, 2016 at 12:56 pm #873057
    0
    tritecommentbot

    Yeah it’s odd that there isn

    Yeah it’s odd that there isn’t a sophisticated portal to submit evidence to the police and report crimes. Bet their systems are mad dated.

    June 10, 2016 at 12:55 pm #873055
    0
    hawkinspeter

    That makes sense. I wish it

    That makes sense. I wish it was easier to submit evidence though. A while ago I wanted to submit clear evidence of a car driver trying to jump a red light (he managed to screech to a halt over the ASL), but the Bristol police wouldn’t accept it unless I physically brought it in. As it’s not convenient for me to visit the police station during the week, I didn’t bother.

    June 10, 2016 at 11:40 am #873053
    0
    fustuarium

    Thanks, useful to know.
    Thanks, useful to know.

  • Author
    Replies
Viewing 12 replies - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.