custody cameras

[Chiefy_Brown]

there are two kinds of cameras in custody areas

A) CCTV cameras filming prisoners and officers within the custody area

B) cameras which are specifically intended to take good quality FRONT/SIDE/ANGLE photos of prisoners after charge

I'm just talking about case B) here , we'll leave A) to another day why not ?
the METROPOLITAN POLICE (LONDON) were using 35mm standard cameras up until 2000 - the cameras contained normal 24 exposure film and required "developing" to produce negatives, LONGWINDED but - this is the bottom line RELIABLE

since switching to COMPUTER BASED PHOTOS the amount of prisoners sucessfully photoed, has DROPPED DRAMATICALLY, why ? Because the computer "running" these cameras (all are stand alone) are UNRELIABLE, they crash, the worm drives get "dirty" or bad tempered :NIGHTMARE

check out my letter to the MET's POLICE newspaper : sent 10.DEC.02 :

A wonderful new technology arrived for the Met on 26th April 2000. Our custody suites were equipped with terrific CUSTODY IMAGING SYSTEMS ! WOW! The days of 36 exposures and 'develop those negatives,' were GONE. A new computerised system was here and it SHOULD have been an improvement, BUT WAS IT ?

Do we have custody officers pulling their hair out at charging time, wondering whether this prisoner will walk out of the station, no photo having been taken, because the CUSTODY IMAGING SYSTEM is a total nightmare ?? Or is the technology stable, reliable and the holy grail that we were looking for ?

Try phoning Hammersmith, Brixton, Kensington, Islington, Twickenham, Richmond, Notting Hill, Fulham the list goes on, ask for their Custody Officer and just say "Custody Imaging System." Will they greet you with wonderful words of praise, or will they say "Unreliable, crashes all the time, I get my PCs to phone the helpdesk everytime it crashes so they can feel our pain" ???

Ever heard the story of the "Emperor's new clothes" ? Sadly, the Custody Imaging System IS THE SAME STORY. Why are we all PRETENDING that this "technology" is actually performing ?? It's not ! It is letting us down all the time - officers are using ICEFLOW photos, which are fine for local use - but never make it to SO3 and arresting officers are struggling DAILY to obtain "proper" photos of their ACCUSED PRISONERS. I can tell you that we are LOSING prisoner photos on a substantial basis, but nobody seems to care less ! Who's bothered ?

Can we PLEASE go back to 36 exposures and developing negatives, at least that system WORKED, this one DOESN'T !

Sincerely PS 90 TW BROWN CUSTODY TW and CUSTODY TR
well - what are your comments ?? Chime in please !

<small>[ 12-16-2002, 03:42 AM: Message edited by: Chiefy_Brown ]</small>

[Sgt Lobster]

Chiefy,

We had a digital system till mid 2001 when the supplying company went bust. The images didn't seem that great, certainly not on a par with good old silver halide. I have a Nikon digital camera at home which produces excellent results, yet the systems we get in custody offices seem to be pretty poor.

However we are due another digital system soon, so I'll let you know how it fairs when it finally arrives.

<small>[ 12-16-2002, 10:56 AM: Message edited by: Sgt Lobster ]</small>

[Tacdriver]

The agency I work for is small yet, I was able to help in converting our outdated 35mm system to digital. It's oustanding!!! Actually less paper involved! You don't need a grand system to incorporate the new one. Just use the simplist of software tools to upload your new digital pics and, you may save hundreds if not thousands. It all depends on the stubborness of the system administrator.

[Chiefy_Brown]

hey tacdriver sure the 35mm system is outdated, sure it's old BUT IT WORKED !
what was the rate of success?
99% ?

the METROPOLITAN POLICE (LONDON) have embarked on a DISASTROUS digital system that they DO NOT publish a success rate for !!

WE DON'T KNOW how many prisoners walk out of POLICE STATIONS with NO PHOTO having been taken because there are NO statistics!

They are ALL fingerprinted, they are ALL DNA'd because the technology for that is STABLE

for the last 2 years CUSTODY OFFICERS have actually GIVEN UP on these crap cameras

OFFICER "Sarge the custody camera is playing up, what do I do ?"
SERGEANT "Let's have a look at it, oh it's crashed/oh the WORM drive is dirty/glitched/oh the the log in screen won't appear"

we are SO TIRED of this scenario that it's just NORMAL

I estimate that 50% or less of our prisoners are now being photographed but WHO CARES !!!???

[Babylon]

Sgt,
As someone whos been galoer for the past few weeks(bloody hate that posting!)We've constantly had it happen,so we've resorted to using a iceflo(polaroid)camera and sending them to the biu,which is far more reliable half and they're scanning them and storing them.
Seems to work,but its daft we've got to do that.

[Chiefy_Brown]

Babylon, good to see you on here my friend, yes I know about the iceflows and I totally agree with you squire !! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

basically somebody has got to have the BALLS to cut this crap Custody Imaging System LOOSE
we've given it TWO SCHMEGGIN' YEARS ! HOW MUCH LONGER FOR CHRIST SAKE ?? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="frown.gif" />

[Don]

Oh for heaven's sake. Throw that crap on the scrap heap, and go back to the Polaroid.

We had a model designed for booking purposes. It was designed to put both the full face and the profile on the same pix. You knew immediately if the pix was any good or not. It could be scanned into a computer, it could be faxed, photocopied, or whatever.

Sometimes these "steps forward" are really "leaps backwards."

[LeeRoy]

Hey Don. The red light just turned on up on top of the light pole at the end of town. Hurry up and go down to the call box and call the desk before the sarge gets upset. Don't forget to tie up your horse.

[Jim Burnes]

Oh man, you too funny :p How about just setting up a flat-black cloth screen on the wall, focus the polaroid onto your subject as he stands in front of the screen, towards the left or right side.

Expose the film, but do not remove it. Have the subject move to the other side of the screen, for a side view, and expose the same shot.

When you pull the film, you will have the same subject depicted as standing beside himself, full frontal and a side-view. Then scan, or fax or whatever makes you happy.

This is a method I used for nearly 10 years, around the world on different assignments. It works every time.

Jim Burnes