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Somerville Police First in Massachusetts to Deploy State-of-the-Art Interrogation Recording and Management System
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SOMERVILLE - Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and Chief of Police Anthony Holloway announced the
implementation of technology that allows officers and supervisors to view
interrogations live or after-the-fact from their computers. The
VideOversightTM
interrogation recording and case management system from Microception, Inc.
in Alpharetta GA, also organizes all police information and surveillance footage
into an easily searchable virtual case file. Somerville is the first municipality in
the Commonwealth to use the advanced system.
"This state-of-the-art technology not only makes our police department more
effective and efficient, but also allows us to share crucial case information with other
municipalities and law enforcement agencies in minutes," said Mayor Curtatone. "In
just the first week of operation we have already used the system to digitally share a
suspect's interrogation with a neighboring city, something that would have taken hours
or days to coordinate with the old system. This system is another example of the ways
we are working to keep our Police Department, and all of city government, at the forefront
of innovation."
"The VideOversightTM system actually saves our
officers a significant amount of time -time that they will spend on the streets working
on their cases and forming relationships within the community," said Chief Holloway.
"With the old system, officers would have to review an entire one or two hour
interrogation tape to find a certain key point. The new system allows us to digitally
mark a specific point during an interrogation and return to that moment with the click of a
button."
The new technology automatically archives interrogations and includes a search feature.
It also allows officers to view and comment on interrogations from their desk computers.
"This technology is a regional tool: it allows us to share information with our
colleagues in minutes," said Holloway. The system also includes an authentication
feature that other police departments and the courts can use to certify the validity
of an interrogation.
Police departments throughout the country have implemented similar systems. Chief
Holloway had previously used the system during his time serving the Clearwater,
Florida police department.
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