4 easy ways to handle body cam footage faster using Reduct
October 2023
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3 min read
Body-worn cameras are becoming essential tools for public defenders and other legal professionals working with criminal cases. They help document interactions, strengthen evidence, and promote transparency and accountability in investigations and court proceedings.
But as bodycam use grows, so does the volume of footage. The very tool designed to create transparency can make it harder for attorneys to find the right piece of evidence, simply because it captures everything.
In this article, I’ll show you how to review and manage large volumes of bodycam footage faster and more effectively using Reduct.
4-ways to deal with body-worn cam footage faster with Reduct
1. Scan the transcript to spot what matters
Video is a difficult medium to work with. You have to watch the entire video to understand what’s happening. When it comes to bodycam footage, most of it is silence or small talk between officers. And the most important moment is usually buried somewhere in between.
With modern timestamped transcription in Reduct, you can click on a word and jump to that part in the footage. This makes reviewing bodycam footage faster and easier.
2. Pinpoint evidence with a powerful search
Unlike text, you usually can’t Ctrl+F your way through hours of footage. But with Reduct, you can.
You can search the transcript, and the synced transcription allows you to jump directly to that moment in the footage.
If you’re testing a defense theory and looking for supporting evidence, a few searches can uncover exactly what you need.
Reduct offers two types of searches:
- Exact match to find the exact term that appears in the transcript.
- Fuzzy match to find related terms, even if the search term doesn’t exactly match.
For example, if you search for "alcohol", fuzzy search may also surface related terms like “drink” or “wine.”
3. Clip out video exhibits from lengthy bodycam footage
If you find the one minute that matters in hours of bodycam footage, you’ll want to show it in court. But traditional video editing tools have a steep learning curve.
With Reduct, it’s as simple as selecting the transcript and clicking on a button. This makes the process of creating a video exhibit as simple as working on a Google Doc.
4. Analyze incidents with synced Multicam view
Attorneys often watch the same footage from multiple angles to understand what happened, sometimes spending five times longer than the actual footage length.
Some bodycams have better audio; others have clearer visuals. And figuring out the order of events across different perspectives takes time and effort.
Reduct’s Multicam sync lets you review multiple camera angles simultaneously. All video sources are aligned with synchronized playback, so you can see the full picture.
You can jump to key moments by clicking on a word in the transcript, across all angles and media files. This helps attorneys build a clearer picture of what happened and choose the best clip to present in court. Sometimes, showing multiple angles can even help dismantle an opposing narrative.
Pro features
Redact Personally Identifiable Information
One of the important legal requirements when it comes to e-discovery is redacting confidential and personally identifiable information in digital evidence.
Legal redaction falls under the American Bar Association's rule of editing, hiding, or removing specific content to protect a client's confidential information. There are several laws that protect an individual’s right to privacy such as HIPAA, GDPR.
You can use Reduct to redact video and audio footage easily and effectively safeguarding the privacy of your participants/witnesses.
With Reduct’s secure blur feature, you can choose to hide an entire portion of the video, or selectively blur just the faces of your participants.
There’s more ...
The Colorado State Public Defender's Office was looking for a fast legal transcription service to quickly generate transcripts for the growing amount of audio and video evidence used in their cases.
After trying Reduct successfully in mid-2021, the office decided to implement its use in 21 locations.
In these locations, over a thousand lawyers uploaded more than 500,000 minutes of digital evidence, like audio and video recordings, including the footage from body-worn cameras, using only Reduct.
Increasing use of audio and video evidence has made bodycam footage a key part of the courtroom process.
Make sure to choose reliable tools like Reduct for your legal footage management, and process your digital evidence securely and more effectively.
