Aston riot investigators break in new ground in electronic evidence

The Aston Riots was the catalyst to transform the way digital evidence from CCTV cameras was used by police in major investigations in the West Midlands. The riot had led to 273 criminal offences and two murders, the challenge was that Aston marked a new type of riot for the UK. 

Detective Sergeant Andrew Townsend Comments:  “What was different with this investigation was that it wasn’t a situation where it was a straight forward confrontation between a group of people and the police in a confined space. The Aston Riots took us into unchartered territory where there were two groups of people in the community fighting each other but scattered across a wide area.” 

The MIU turned to Scyron for intelligent evidence gathering and presentation.

Download the full case study, here (PDF, 641Kb)

Key benefits

Automation allows greater collaboration, saving significant time during major investigations

DEMON present provides a new, flexible and efficient way to compile and present high-quality, electronic evidence in Court, requiring minimal training for officers using the software. Also, instant editing gives the flexibility for  the evidence to be played in Court in any order (to complement and re-enforce traditional  paper ‘jury bundles’ of information).

Provides the Police with effective management information for the first time such as evidence classified and cross-referenced to support different prosecutions

The Solution

Working closely with Detective Sergeant Townsend and his MIU, Scyron devised a solution basd on DEMON analyse for the rapid and intelligent analysis of evidence from CCTV cameras, video, photography and images such as maps and mobile phone footage. 

The easy-to-use DEMON edit allowed officers to highlight suspects and created targeted evidence the highest Home Office standards. 

Finally, DEMON present was used to compile evidence from various sources and create a single easy-to-follow presentation that could be shown in court.

The results

Using the Scyron solution the police service was able to cut the time spent in court by one third. More importantly, it facilitated the securing of 11 convictions from the Aston Riots to date. 

Superintendent Una Cooke, head of the Major Investigations Unit at West Midlands Police, said: "Without this technology it was felt that the case would have lasted at least another three weeks and it would have been extremely difficult for the jury to be able to follow the evidence against the individual defendants."

Download the full case study, here