Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department
TranTech's CLEARView™ provides DC Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) the leading law enforcement system for collecting digital media in support of police interrogations. The CLEARView™ system satisfies legislative compliance, digital asset management, and security, scalability, and integrity issues.
TranTech, Inc., in collaboration with Washington DC's Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) has embarked upon its Video Interrogation Rooms Technology Upgrade project known as "Project VIRTU", allowing them to be in compliance with DC law and MPD's General Order (GO) #GO-SPT-304.16 "Electronic Recording of Interrogations". TranTech is implementing the CLEARView™ system to maintain accurate and complete records of all interrogations, providing chain-of-custody accountability and information security and integrity.
TranTech's CLEARView™ system is a reliable and scalable system that can accommodate the physical and functional needs of small, medium, or large law enforcement agencies. The CLEARView™ system has been configured to meet the unique and demanding needs of MPD's Project VIRTU. The system provides MPD with a secure, redundant, and manageable platform from which to maintain critical police interrogation information.
Project VIRTU initially consists of sixteen (16) locations standalone Digital Video Recording systems recording interrogations in each of the thirty-one (31) interview rooms within and the throughout the District of Columbia. The CLEARView™ system manages the capture process, providing fault tolerant and failsafe system management, capturing and updating interrogation metadata (details about the recording), and efficiently managing the storage and archival of all digital recordings. The CLEARView™ system also exports interrogations via standard DVD format, for multi-purposing, including use by attorneys and in-court proceedings.
The new system utilizes state-of-the-art technology, while providing a completely "user-friendly" interface and an exceptionally "officer-friendly" environment. Fail-safe on/off controls ensure each interrogation session is seamlessly captured, and exclusive, layered security controls guarantee access is granted strictly to authorized users.
Project VIRTU, when complete, will provide MPD the most advanced video interrogation system technology, and make it compliant with current law and the GO. TranTech and MPD are implementing a system that provides a pathway to future enhancements and integration with other citywide IT assets.
TranTech's design incorporates a workflow process that is "officer friendly" and accommodates the MPD's standard operating procedures which mandate a design that:
- Is easy to use;
- Has fail-safe on/off controls; and
- Insures a chain of custody.
Outside of Project VIRTU, TranTech's CLEARView™ VIS can provides an interrogation room control panel with a digital display; an attorney/client privilege switch that temporarily stops audio/video recording yet monitors the time clock; and a night vision camera that continues to record a video, even if the lights have been turned off.
Law enforcement agencies across the country are looking to digital recordings to solve a range of issues, from compliance with new laws, to employing more efficient and effective interrogation and evidence collection processes. They realize that a properly designed system eliminates headaches associated with creating, tracking, and storing CDs or VHS cartridges. They also understand that metadata is critical to detectives, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and others to ensure the content is accurate and tamper-proof.
