Police Video Identification System Progressing Smoothly

[Lazie]

Five months after the implementation of the Video Identification Parade System, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has reported that it is progressing smoothly.
Speaking in an interview with JIS News Monday(June 1) at the Central Police Station in Kingston, Sergeant Roger Kelly of the Video Identification Unit, said that witnesses are much more comfortable attending video identification parades as opposed to the conventional identification sessions.

"In the video identification parade, the witnesses, they are more comfortable in the surrounding and they realise that...they're only seeing a face, they're not seeing a live person across the room, so witnesses are more comfortable with this type of parade," he said.

He noted that the interesting feature of this system is that the police are able to identify people at a faster rate than with the conventional system. "We can do a video parade in less than half an hour, while in the conventional parade.in half an hour you are just started talking to the witness and sometimes it takes hours just for the suspect to do selection of volunteers," he pointed out.

Sergeant Kelly also outlined that the response from attorneys representing their clients has been very good. However, he said that there is need for more images in the database and is appealing to citizens to volunteer their images.

"There is this fear about pictures being taken and used otherwise.we do not keep records of individuals.we do not keep the photographs for any reference other than to use them as (images) in our database and this system is not linked to any other system.so the images remain here," he assured.

The police began conducting video identification parades in January this year at designated locations in Linstead, St. Catherine; Ocho Rios, St. Ann; Mandeville, Manchester and the Central Police Station in Kingston.

http://www.jis.gov.jm/security/html/...G_SMOOTHLY.asp

[Lazie]

Police Boosts Crime Fighting Capabilities with E-Fit Software

The crime fighting capabilities of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) have been boosted, through the acquisition of computers to generate facial composites of likely suspects.

This was revealed by officer in the Video Identification Unit at the Central Police Station, downtown Kingston, Constable Verdaine Wright, in an interview with JIS News about the newly acquired Electronic Facial Identification Technique (E-FIT) software.

Constable Wright was speaking during the demonstration of the equipment at the Central Police Station on Monday (June 1). She told JIS News that the equipment allows the police to create facial sketches based on the memory of victims and witnesses and that its level of accuracy is up to 90 per cent.

"We can get up to 90 per cent closeness, as it relates to likeliness to the actual perpetrator," he asserted. He also outlined that this acuity enables the force to save time and money in searching for perpetrators.
"The closeness, in terms of identifying these perpetrators by using this system, enables the police force to narrow down its search, saving time and money in trying to identify suspects," he explained.

"The system is so easy to use and friendly to the public, it can be shared across various networks and media bases, allowing the public to assist the police in their search for criminals," he added.
Constable Wright said that the high-end equipment allows the police to carry out their tasks in quick time.

"The E-FIT system is so versatile, due to the fact that it is on a laptop.wherever a victim or witness may be.they can be accessed and it is done on a timely basis," he pointed out.
The E-FIT system enables the police to create composites from different sections of the face, such as the eye, ears, mouth and hair.

After the witness or victim assists the police in creating an image of the suspect, they undergo an interview process, called the cognitive interviewing process. This process allows the artist to take from the witness or victim's memory up to 40 per cent more information than traditional interviewing techniques would be able to.

The E-FIT system was developed in 1986 by British computer scientists and psychologists. The system has a database similar to the promat of persons of different ethnicity. This system can also assist the police to create mixed races.

http://www.jis.gov.jm/security/html/...T_SOFTWARE.asp