Wiltshire Police has pioneered a new system called MIDAS, to enable the force’s video technicians to connect to any CCTV system and recover the image data for processing at a later stage. The force is the first in the world to use such a system, which is totally unique!
The increasing number of digital CCTV systems entering the market place is large and no longer can the police just ‘take a tape’ from the premises. Some of the new systems allow the evidence to be copied to DVD or CD, but this is normally for short time spans. When large volumes of data are required – for example, like during the recent events in London – it is difficult to attain this information, as these digital systems have very little in common other than them being digital. The file format and export system etc, are all different and in many cases unique.
MIDAS (mobile image and data acquisition system) provides police forces with an all-in-one fully-portable solution to retrieve analogue or digital video data from crime scenes. MIDAS incorporates all the necessary hardware to allow copying of intelligence, however presented, be it analogue or digital, which can then be transported back to the station for analysis. MIDAS can cope with vast amounts of data on any system and process this information quickly, thereby enabling scrutinisation to go ahead promptly, and ultimately assisting with an investigation.
MIDAS was actually designed by Ian Jakeman, Imaging & Technical Resources Manager for Wiltshire Constabulary, in conjunction with Andrew Wallwork, Technical Director of Daetech. The joint project was agreed in early November 2004 and installed by mid-February 2005 – since then, it has further evolved and is now completed. West Mercia is adopting MIDAS this week, Devon & Cornwall shortly and 10 other forces have expressed an interest, including the High-Tech Crime Unit at Greater Manchester, as well as the FSS (Forensic Science Service) and US company Cognitech.
The cost of the basic MIDAS system is around £9,000, although this increases according to individual requirements, tailored to customers’ needs. As Wiltshire pioneered MIDAS, the force saved about £2,500. Ian Jakeman said: ‘I am delighted to have been involved in the development of such an effective system, which will change the way in which video technicians can access CCTV data, reduce the time they spend in one place and ultimately, assist with investigations by providing images in fast time’.
Martyn Bradford, Director of Forensic Services for Wiltshire Constabulary, said: ‘Wiltshire Constabulary, like many forces, is having to respond and manage the increasing number and variants of Digital Recording CCTV Systems. The data storage size of these systems is increasing and in major criminal investigations there can be an urgent need to capture large volumes of image data. MIDAS has been developed to respond effectively to this operational requirement for technicians who have to attend third party premises’.
‘In major enquiries, time is of the essence and MIDAS in one box has all the possible connectivity and capability to capture large volumes of data that can be viewed and processed at a later time. This system will undoubtedly save the technicians time spent on site and recover all the required image data in a best-evidence format, whilst maintaining evidential integrity’.
Being PC-based, MIDAS can be easily adapted to encompass future formats, thus making it a truly universal system. The system is provided with 500 Gb of internal raid array (hard drive storage), but can be upsized to 1 Terabyte and beyond, if necessary. The DCCTV software is also provided by Daetech.
Andrew Wallwork said: ‘MIDAS is a tool that no police force should be without’.
Features: Scan conversion, RAID array, DCCTV player software, analogue video capture, disk cloning hardware with write blocking and DVD writer.
Equipment: Includes a high-spec remote computer, combined touch pad and keyboard, a 15″ flat screen, a USB to SCSI interface cable and also a cross-over Ethernet cable, all in a state-of-the-art metal case that can be carried by one technician on his/her own.
