Free DME & DFIR Resources

Stumbled on a blog post today about this topic, which is worth the read IMHO - "Why I moved away from FOSS as my main toolset". The author, whom I first met when he was a student in a LEVA Level 1 and/or 2 class I was teaching the better part of 10 years ago, raises some valid points about leveraging FOSS in DME workflows; training, support and documenting FOSS tools being the points I agree with. To that end, keep your eyes & ears open for news about professional training & support for FOSS solutions related to DME.

With that said, I'm going to make a few comments and pose a few questions to the community based on the above post, so if you haven't read it...the rest of this post is probably moot.

CHICAGO (AP) - When the body of Chicago's school board president was found partially submerged in a river last fall, a bullet wound to the head, cameras helped prove it was a suicide.

Full Story:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/04/06/cameras-make-chicago-closely-watched-city/

Ocean Systems will be providing a free 3-hour seminar entitled "From Acquisition to Prosecution: Understanding the Value & Challenges of Digital Video Evidence" on December 8th in Miami, FL. This free seminar provides helpful information for all of those involved in the digital video evidence chain, too include prosecutors, law enforcement command staff, first responders, support staff, as well as technicians and analysts.

Ocean Systems just announced that the Anaheim Police Department will be hosting our DVR Assessment & Video Recovery training course September 16th - 18th in Anaheim, CA. Seats have been filling up fast in our DCCTV Recovery classes, with next month's class at the New York State Police Academy already sold out!

If your agency is looking to standardize your video evidence recoveries based on industry best practices, and you'd like hands-on training for those officers collecting your video evidence out in the field, get a quote from us today and then reserve your seat! Hope to see you in class soon. Be safe out there my friends.

Alan Paller is director of research for the SANS Institute, a provider of security training and certification.

A few Sundays ago, the managing partner and IT partner from a large law firm in New York came to my home for a visit. It wasn't just for coffee. They had flown down to Washington to discuss what they might do in the aftermath of a troubling visit from the FBI.

Here's how the conversation went. Read full story >

Windows 8 is a major OS overhaul, but some of the most important additions might be the ones you can't see. Here's a look at Windows 8's new security tools and features.

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While previous jumps in compression technology have taken years to find adoption, we may see PCs and other devices that can play HEVC files on the market by the end of 2013

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Yesterday I received my copy of the Adobe Creative Suite CS3 bundle, and although I just installed it I'm already very impressed. Adobe has made great strides with integrating their various design products, making it easier than ever to create, manage, and edit content for any medium. As a matter of fact, I've been using Adobe Contribute now for approximately five minutes with no prior experience, and I'm using it to publish this very post.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) recently launched an entire website related to law enforcement's use of social media tools and resources - www.iacpsocialmedia.org

The new Center for Social Media has all kinds of information on planning and implementing Web 2.0 and social media tools for your agency, including case studies, white papers, directories, and more.  Be sure to take a minute to check it out by visiting www.iacpsocialmedia.org

The Scientific Working Group on Digital Evidence (SWGDE) recently published two new documents for public comment; Comments on Forced Minimization Requirements for the Seizure of Digital Evidence and Crime Scene Critical Incident Videography Recommendations and Guidelines. As noted on their site, draft documents will be posted for a minimum of 60 days for public comment.

Additionally, several other documents were recently approved for release by SWGDE, including Best Practices for Photographic Comparision for All Disciplines (v1.0), Digital Image Compression and FIle Formats Guidelines (v1.0), and version 3 of Digital & Multimedia Evidence Glossary, among others. Visit https://www.swgde.org for more information.

If you're using Picasa you don't need to read any further, as I'm sure you already know this.  If you're not using Picasa for any reason, let me tell you one of the main reasons I do.   As you probably know Picasa is a pretty handy little free program for editing, managing and sharing your photos, but I rarely use it for any of those things.  What I love most about Picasa is the included Picasa Photo Viewer application.

Let’s talk a little more about aspect ratio. Always a lively topic everywhere I go, and regularly misunderstood by industry leading CCTV equipment manufacturers, engineers, and other video professionals. Should we correct, when do we correct, how do we correct, and of course the why. I’ve done a few short posts on the topic in the past (here's one), but this will be in a little more detail. Still writing on the fly, just going to break it down into a few posts over time.

The Law Enforcement and Emergency Services Video Association is providing a free course — Video Essentials for First Responders — for attendees of its 2013 LEVA Digital Multimedia Evidence Training Symposium, which runs Sept. 9-13 in Asheville, N.C

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