Video Surveillance in the Courtroom: Myths Debunked

The Public Safety Luncheon, sponsored by Security Sales & Integration, concluded ESX 2017 Main Stage programming. The luncheon started by recognizing a few association awards.


The Police Dispatch Quality (PDQ) award, sponsored by Honeywell and Security Sales & Integration, was announced by Stan Martin of SIAC. Engineer Protection Systems (EPS) and Vector Security placed in the top two, with EPS taking home the award for beating back false alarms. SIAC also announced the winner of its William N. Moody Award, presented to Leo Guthart.

Jay Hauhn, Executive Director of The Monitoring Association (TMA), handed the TMA Public Sector Award to John Merklinger, director of the Rochester/Monroe County 911 center and 311 call center, for his timeless efforts to advance the implementation of an Automated Secure Alarm Protocol (ASAP) in New York state. New York was one of the most challenging states for ASAP implementation.

The Electronic Security Association (ESA) brought college-bound student Jessica Hill to the stage to accept the 2017 ESA Youth Scholarship Award. Jessica, daughter of a first responder, accepted a check for $9,000 to further her education.

After the awards were presented, Miles Brissette, attorney for the Law Offices of Gill & Brissette and co-founder of the 3rd Chair Family of Companies: Digital Forensics, Technologies and Investigations, was introduced.

As if in a courtroom, the attorney paced the stage revealing techniques for analyzing video surveillance footage.

He debunked myths surrounding the use of surveillance video in the courtroom.

Myths Debunked

Myth #1: Footage has to be watermarked in order to be admissible
The weight is to be given to the evidence and not to its admissibility

Myth #2: H.264 is the preferred format for court
This format works the best with QuickTime. The video format needs to be simple enough so that the jurors can use it on their own during deliberation.

Myth #3: The entire DVR must be collected to be able to use as evidence.
From his own experience, he’s only requested to pull a full DVR three times, and they all involved dead police officers.