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Taking video footage to court? Find out how at iLegal 2013

There is an enormous difference between having a surveillance solution that you think delivers good images and having a video that is accepted in court and can be used to convict someone.

'Good enough' is anything but good enough when it comes to court cases. Far too many companies think they have a video image of a criminal only to find that, while they think they can recognise the perpetrator, the magistrate sides with the defence in saying the image is not good enough to identify the person 'beyond a reasonable doubt'.

And what about the manner in which the evidence was collected? if you do not have a verifiable chain of evidence and cannot show that all the necessary steps were taken to ensure the evidence was not tampered with, an attorney can easily cast enough doubt on the validity of the evidence to have the video images dismissed.

When that happens, your footage is thrown out and if you do not have other evidence at hand, the accused walks free, even if you are 100% sure it is him/her on the screen. To be sure, surveillance systems have other uses, optimally to prevent a crime and deter criminals, but when someone is on your property and is engaged in a criminal act, especially one where violence is involved, most people want the perpetrator behind bars.

So what do companies need to do to ensure they have footage that is acceptable to a court?

Back by popular demand, iLegal 2013 will be taking place on 14th March 2013 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Rosebank, Johannesburg (on the Gautrain route). As always, iLegal 2013 promises to be the leading event of the year for everybody involved in the use, operation, installation and implementation or any aspect of surveillance, from security managers, executive managers, IT leaders and technology providers and installers.

Make sure you are at iLegal to get the answers on video evidence straight from SAPS. Sonja de Klerk will be speaking and will explain the processes involved in taking video evidence to court as well as how the quality of your evidence will affect the court case.

If you are concerned whether your surveillance system will deliver the goods when it comes to providing evidence in court, make sure you do not miss iLegal 2013.

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