'A reliable solution for FIND compliance'

A short interview with Chief Constable Mike Culverhouse, of Isle of Man Constabulary, conducted for Criminal Justice Management magazine, July 2006.

CJM: 'What do you envisage as the major gains from Isle of Man Constabulary's installation of the UK's first FIND-compliant custody photography system?'

CC Mike Culverhouse: 'Consistent good quality images, that require a minimum of operator input. The FIND CPS system saves time, is always ready for immediate use and the results can be accessed by the Force Intelligence Bureau immediately the session is finished. Once FIND is adopted nationwide we will benefit from access to all other Force's prisoner images.'

CJM: 'How important are the quality assured photographs for policing generally ?'

CC Mike Culverhouse: 'The ability to exchange photographs of a consistent standard between forces, which clearly ashow the face of the individual is essential, especially in these days of increased CCTV use. It is also highly desirable that the images we provide to the media are professionally presented and in a form which enables the public to make reliable identifications.'

CJM: 'What sort of feedback is coming from the officers using the Safe Cities' FIND custody photography (CPS) system on a daily basis?'

CC Mike Culverhouse: 'Officers uniformly praise the system. Comments such as "miles better", "very impressed" and "excellent" are received all the time. The system is user friendly, intuitive and produces excellent results.'

CJM: 'Do users find the system easy to use?'

CC Mike Culverhouse: 'The ingenious thing with FIND CPS is that all the facial recognition and colour correction programs are hidden from the operator's view, leaving us with an easy and intuitive interface, which rapidly gives us fully FIND-compliant images.'

CJM: 'How has the image quality of Isle of Man's custody photography changed since the adoption of the new system?'

CC Mike Culverhouse: 'The images are now totally consistent, in terms of size, quality, composition and background colour. This will obviously make witness boards far easier to produce once the database has increased sufficiently.'

CJM: 'Is there a speed up in custody processing time with the new system?'

CC Mike Culverhouse: 'Definitely. If there are no marks, scars or tattoo's to be recorded, a suspect can have their image recorded in under 60 seconds. This is because the system is always ready to use and starts automatically.'

CJM: 'Given the importance of FIND to the nature of policing in the UK and Isle of Man, would you be happy to recommend Safe Cities' FIND CPS which is now installed at your Police HQ, to other Forces?'

CC Mike Culverhouse: 'If other Forces wish to source a reliable, ready made solution to achieve FIND compliance, I would recommend they come to the Isle of Man where we will be proud to demonstrate our system.'

CJM: 'Thanks for your time.'