CSI: Durham

VSM Exclusive Interview

A look at new uses for video forensics–-through the eyes of a Durham expert.

Technology is always evolving. Making the tools we use to fight crime more precise, more intense and more effective. But criminals are also evolving along disturbingly parallel lines as they try to outwit law enforcement.

Someone who has a unique view on this dynamic is Durham, NC CSI Officer Marilyn Coble. Unique in that she’s on the front lines in a city that’s viewed by outsiders almost like a coin–one side shiny (academics and medicine), the other scarred (crime). But also unique because her resume is dotted with experience which only forms a straight line when viewed in retrospect, from how perfectly it’s positioned her to do what she does today. Computer graphic design. Lab work. Crime scene investigations. And now, video forensics.

Desert Heat

Another VSM Exclusive Interview

“Sorry about the cold.”

Detective Patrick Smith mock shivers as he sits down at his desk. The morning was unseasonably chilly, even for February, in a state known for its year-round arid warmth. But Arizona has also recently become known for something else–crime. Gang violence, home invasions, kidnapping, drugs, and, of course, the constant pain of illegal border crossing. As crime has intensified in this state, so has the Arizona State Police Department’s ability to fight it.

The agency is equipped with its own computer forensics department and training facility. Since its inception, this unique department has grown into a space for statewide officers to bring their cases, stay a week or two while they work, getting help from experts on site. It’s an ideal combination for uncovering buried data in a suspect’s hardware and software.

And, as it turns out, an inspiring model for video forensics, too. Just ask Detective Smith.

Direct to Video

Hartsville, South Carolina may not be a metropolis by anyone’s standards. But when it comes to catching bad guys with video, its small brick police station on Main Street has become a central hub in the Southeast. And that’s primarily due to one officer.

Lieutenant Brian Rudick, a 13-year law enforcement veteran, started out analyzing footage a few years ago on a ‘cheap VCR-DVD combo, an old Sony time-lapse VCR and a TV.’

“I was just hoping to grab some screen shots. Anything to get a case going,” he explains. “The only other option at the time was sending it to the State Bureau. We had to drop it off at an evidence clerk, who is an hour away, and hope to get it back soon. But some cases are emergencies, so we needed something right here.”

It was around that time that videotaping hit what the industry calls ‘critical mass.’ In other words, every convenience store, bank, gas station and Wal-Mart started recording what their customers and employees were doing. More and more video started coming in, and started piling up.