Hi-tech ID parade will save £25,000

From the Echo, first published Saturday 18th Oct 2003.

A STATE-of-the-art computerised video identification system has been introduced by Dorset Police.

The new system, known as Promat, will make current identification parades all but redundant and could also save up to £25,000 per year in parade volunteer fees.

Before it arrived officers had to conduct expensive and time-consuming parades to identify suspects.

Volunteers who met a certain description had to be found and paid to attend a parade at a police station. The old system was so clumsy that one third of all ID parades were aborted at the last minute, usually because one of the parties could not attend.

Promat uses a database of 12,000 video images of volunteers collected from around the country, accessible at the touch of a button. It has has just been installed at Weymouth police station.

The Force's three identification inspectors and an administrative assistant can be deployed across Dorset with laptops and camera equipment to take video images of suspects, ensuring the complicated process of holding ID parades runs more smoothly.

A suspect is filmed, usually while he or she is in custody, and the footage is then mixed in with that of a number of volunteers from the database and saved on to a CD. The compiled film is shown to witnesses at the location of their choice if they are not able to attend one of the stations.

Weymouth-based Inspector Malcolm Wilcox said the process is less daunting for victims of crime. He added: "When the witness knows that the suspect is not in the room or the same building it alleviates their anxiety and helps provide a more comfortable experience. The new system should also result in a fairer parade for suspects."

Inspector Wilcox said Promat could save thousands in police time and money. "Holding ID parades used to be fraught with logistical problems, not least in finding suitable volunteers. PROMAT creates a much more efficient system and eliminates the need for witnesses, lawyers and volunteers to simultaneously attend a `live' parade."

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