Body-worn camera
Footage from every officer present, including the moments before and after the event.
Evidence
The evidence that decides civil rights cases.
A civil rights case is a contest between two accounts of the same event. It is won by the side with better evidence. These are the kinds of evidence an investigation looks for, and why each one matters.
Video & audio
Dash camera
Patrol vehicle video and audio, including the rear-seat camera.
Jail and facility video
Booking, housing unit, hallway, and sally port cameras.
Private surveillance
Business, residential, and doorbell cameras near the scene.
Bystander video
Recordings made by witnesses on mobile phones.
911 and radio audio
Emergency calls and radio traffic, with their timestamps.
Official records
Incident and arrest reports
The officers' written accounts, and any supplements and revisions.
Use-of-force reports
The agency's own record and review of the force used.
Dispatch logs
Computer-aided dispatch records showing who was sent, and when.
Jail records
Booking, classification, housing, cell check, and grievance records.
Policies and training
The rules in force on the date, and the training the officers received.
Complaints and discipline
Earlier complaints and their outcomes, where the law makes them public.
People
Independent eyewitnesses
People with no stake in the outcome who saw what happened.
Detainee witnesses
People held in the same facility at the same time.
Pattern witnesses
People who experienced similar conduct by the same officer or agency.
Before-and-after witnesses
Family, friends, and employers who can describe the harm done.
The scene
Photographs and video
The scene documented from each relevant position.
Measurements and diagrams
Distances and layout, recorded and drawn to scale.
Lines of sight
What could be seen from where each person stood.
Lighting and conditions
Documented at the same hour and in comparable conditions.
Background
Court records
Prior lawsuits, rulings, and settlements involving the officer or agency.
Certification history
Training, certification, and decertification records.
Employment history
Earlier agencies and the circumstances of departure.
Open-source material
News coverage, public statements, and public social media.
Why timing matters
Evidence does not wait. Neither should the investigation.
Surveillance systems record over themselves within days or weeks. Agencies delete body camera footage on fixed schedules. Scenes are cleaned and repaired, and witnesses move away. The law also sets strict deadlines for bringing a claim. The sooner an investigation begins, the more there is to find.
Services
How this evidence is gathered
Witness Location & Interviews
Finding the people who saw what happened, including those the official report left out, and recording what they know while they still remember it.
Learn moreVideo & Digital Evidence
Body camera, dash camera, surveillance, doorbell, and mobile phone video, located and preserved before it is overwritten, then assembled into a single timeline.
Learn morePublic Records & Document Requests
Incident reports, use-of-force reports, dispatch records, policies, training files, and jail logs, obtained through public records laws and organized for the case.
Learn more