Starkville PD explains usefulness of securing camera storage data
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Starkville police rely on cameras, sometimes, as an eyewitness in criminal cases.
“It has been extremely helpful in solving cases, in the five years we have had this deployed,” said Joel Clements, Starkville Police Department Technology Department
Starkville Police Department Technology Director Joel Clements works every day to find secure places to store the video and plan for the future.
“It is a large amount of storage, this is a high-definition video that we do keep. So, we do invest a lot in cloud storage, and it is offside, backed up, protected and it is secure. That is one of the larger costs of projects like this, and that storage and making sure it is available at all times. As you deploy more cameras, you do have to invest in more storage,” said Clements.
Keeping up with footage from surveillance cameras is not as hard as one may think. Starkville Police Chief Mark Ballard said after an illegal act is caught by an eye in the sky, it is kept until it is needed in the courtroom.
“Once we capture a crime that is on video, it goes into a certain type of storage system. It is locked in with the case, through the appeal process, and we have it for as long as the courts deem necessary,” said Ballard.
Ballard also said he knows people are usually afraid to tell officers what they witnessed.
“I think cameras are quickly becoming the essential tool for public safety. We are starting to see more hesitant witnesses coming forward. There is so much liability out there in the world, and the cameras allow juries judges, and everyone involved to see with their own eyes what happened. Pictures are worth a thousand words, and you can imagine what a video is worth,” said Ballard.
Ballard believes more departments throughout the nation will start to embrace the roles cameras have as technology grows
