How Video Analytics Helps Police Uncover Critical Evidence in Time-Sensitive Investigations

Traditionally, this process is time-intensive, requiring officers and investigators to manually review footage from multiple locations, hoping to spot relevant details. However, video analytics technology has changed the game, allowing law enforcement to efficiently analyze surveillance footage, extract critical information and piece together case-solving evidence faster than ever before. 

When a crime occurs, surveillance video often plays a key role in identifying suspects, tracking movements and corroborating evidence. Yet, raw footage alone is often useless — it must be processed, analyzed and searched efficiently to provide meaningful intelligence. This is where video analytics software empowers law enforcement to transform hours of footage into searchable, actionable insights within minutes. 

Many police departments across the globe now rely on Real-time crime centers (RTCCs) to monitor, analyze and respond to incidents as they unfold. These command centers integrate video surveillance with advanced AI-powered analytics and other enabling technologies that empower investigators to rapidly locate relevant footage, track suspect movements and establish timelines with precision. 

For example, in the well-known case of Jennifer Dulos’ disappearance, law enforcement needed to identify a suspect’s vehicle from traffic cameras throughout the city. Video analytics allowed them to search through video with advanced filters for color, type, license plate, and time frame based on their knowledge of the suspects vehicles and movements. In just 15 minutes, the RTCC was able to locate a pickup truck associated with the suspect and pinpoint additional critical evidence that was seen in the video.   

Once the key footage was identified, video analytics further supported the investigation by tracking the suspect’s movement across multiple locations throughout the city. While suspects like the man in this case believe they can evade detection by removing GPS tracking, changing routes or altering their appearances don’t realize that video analytics can easily catch their trail. With AI-driven analytics, police can: 

• Match objects and vehicles across different camera angles 
• Track suspect movements across multiple locations
• Identify suspicious behavior patterns that warrant further investigation 

By leveraging these capabilities, law enforcement agencies can connect scattered pieces of evidence, corroborate witness statements and build compelling cases that stand up in court. 

In today’s fast-paced world, law enforcement needs every advantage available to keep our communities safe. Video analytics enable police officers, detectives and forensic teams to maximize their resources, solve cases faster and ensure that justice is served by increasing case solvability.