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S URVEIL L ANCE TE CHNOL OGY then maps the cameras and consults a detailed map of nearby cameras when a crime is committed. Some cities—Atlantic City and Atlanta, for instance—have automated the process and can tap into cameras online from their communication centers. Turner says. Video that is incompatible with the police department's system is not much of a problem. "We have a multiplexer here that reads different video formats," Turner says. "If the multiplexer can't read a video format, we'll go back to the owner and watch the video there and record from the screen. In some cases, we might ask our High Tech Task Force to reformat the video for our system." The VPD has also knitted together a network of city-owned cameras watching areas of the city, as well as Registering and mapping cameras in Ventura Through its Video Camera Community Partnership Program, the Ventura Police Department (VPD) asks businesses and residents to register security cameras that record activity in public areas. "We enter the address, the number of cameras and the direction they are facing into CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch)," says Commander Tim Turner, Field Operations, with the VPD. "We also estimate the size of the area the camera or cameras can cover." When a call comes in, the CAD Police departments in Philadelphia, Elgin, Ill., San Ramon, Calif., and Ventura, Calif....all have programs that ask organizations and individuals to register their surveillance cameras. system scans the registered cameras, Turner explains. If the system finds cameras that cover the location of the call, a flag with an address pops up on the screen in the vehicle of the responding officer, who will then contact the owners of the cameras by phone, e-mail or in person. For less serious crimes, officers ask camera owners to review the video before and after the time the call came in and to let them know about anything that might be useful. If there is useful video, the officer asks for or makes a DVD copy to retain as evidence. "For serious crimes like murder, we will review the video immediately and make a copy if it has evidentiary value," Circle 67 on Reader Service Card www.officer.com September 2013 Law Enforcement Technology 19