The Digital Multimedia Evidence Processing Lab at the University of Indianapolis is said to be the only facility of its kind for training public-safety professionals in the latest techniques of forensic video analysis.
A forensic video analysis laboratory at the University of Indianapolis, used to train law enforcement and security professionals from around the world, will soon serve Canadian authorities in their massive investigation of rioting and looting that occurred after this spring’s Stanley Cup hockey finals.
The Vancouver Police Department announced Wednesday that it will send a team in late September to the Digital Multimedia Evidence Processing Lab at UIndy, where more than 1,600 hours of video from the June episode can be processed in a matter of weeks, rather than years, to identify suspects. Hundreds of arrests are expected in the case, which is blamed for millions of dollars in losses from vandalism and theft.
The Vancouver team will be assisted by experts from the Law Enforcement & Emergency Services Video Association, known as LEVA, which has conducted its training courses at UIndy since 2004 and established the permanent lab – said to be the only one of its kind in the world – in January 2007. This will be the first time the lab has been used in an active investigation.
“Given the unique nature of this facility, we knew from the start that it could be called into service when a special need arose,” said UIndy Executive Vice President and Provost Deborah W. Balogh. “The university is glad to help serve the public interest in this case.”
With its 20 high-powered digital workstations, the lab in the university’s Krannert Memorial Library building so far has hosted training for more than 1,000 public-safety professionals and consultants from Canada, South America, the Caribbean, Asia, Europe, and nearly every state in the union, as well as representatives of the FBI, Secret Service, National Security Agency, U.S. Postal Service, Customs and Border Protection and Department of State.
LEVA offers several levels of courses and a certification in forensic video analysis, an increasingly important component of crisis event and criminal investigations. Investigators learn how to collect and digitally process video evidence – often murky footage from closed-circuit security cameras – and how to present their findings in court.
The classes began in 2000 at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., but space constraints and security issues prompted LEVA to seek another site. The training moved to UIndy through the work of former FBI Supervisory Special Agent and Unit Chief Tom Christenberry, who joined the UIndy faculty in 2004 and now serves as director of strategic operations in the university’s School for Adult Learning.
