First night home last night after an amazing week of training and peer networking at LEVA 2015. Slept like a baby! So great to get a few moments with so many of you, it was really kind of emotionally & intellectually draining! lol

Below is a link to the PDFs from Ocean Systems' sessions
www.oceansystems.com/LEVA2015

Thanks everyone for your valuable time with us during the event! Hope to see you all again sooner, rather than latter. ;) All the best, LC

With the successful completion of last week's Advanced Forensic Video Analysis & the Law course, LEVA is proud to announce that they have ten newly certified forensic video technicians! Click here for the complete list of LEVA CFVTs (PDF)

The LEVA Shield Awards have been a long standing tradition of recognizing excellence in video production within the public safety community.

The 2008 LEVA Shield Video Awards competition is now open for submissions. Enter your best work from the past year in any of the nine categories. Participation in the Shield Awards provides many rewards including recognition by your peers and professional development through LEVA's judging panel feedback.

The deadline for the 2008 LEVA Shield Video Awards has been extended! Please have all entries in no later than Monday, June 30, 2008.

Visit the LEVA site today!

LEVA is proud to announce the Call For Entries for the 20th Annual Shield Video Awards competition, the only video competition designed exclusively for public safety professionals. Entries must be post-marked no later than Friday, July 3, 2009, and be received by July 10, 2009. Winners will be announced at the Shield Awards Banquet on November 20, 2009, during the 20th Annual LEVA Training and Development Conference in Ft. Worth, Texas. Visit www.leva.org for entry forms and further information.

I've been trying to find time to post a note about last week's LEVA conference since I got back, but have just been overwhelmed with the ever expanding to-do list.  It was really great seeing a lot of long time friends and colleagues and getting a chance to learn and network with them again.  The entire event seemed to go flawlessly, as always, in large part due to the tireless efforts of the LEVA volunteers (e.g. board & officers). 

This Friday, 9/30, is the cutoff date to be guaranteed a reservation in the LEVA block at the Coeur d'Alene Resort & Conference Center.

The 2011 Annual LEVA Training Conference returns to beautiful Coeur d'Alene this year and is just a few short weeks away. Click the links below for an updated conference schedule or to register today!

» 2011 LEVA Conference Schedule (PDF)
» Register Today!

LEVA recently published their 2012 training schedule.  To view the updated training calendar visit www.leva.org and click on "Training" from the main menu.

LEVA is recognized throughout the world as the leading organization for state-of-the-art public safety video production and forensic video analysis training. LEVA has been at the forefront of providing training and professional development opportunities for Federal, State, and local public safety video professionals and organizations for many years.  To find out more, visit visit www.leva.org

LEVA's 24th Annual Conference & Digital Multimedia Evidence Training Symposium is being held in Asheville, North Carolina September 9 - 13, 2013...and conference registration is now open! Check out the conference schedule and register today!

More Info

Just a quick note to say thank you to everyone who attended LEVA’s Annual Training Conference in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho last week. It’s always great to see everyone face-to-face, and as usual the information sharing and peer networking the conference facilitates was priceless. I only wish I could’ve enjoyed more of the evening social events, but unfortunately a few factors prevented me from doing so.

I just wanted to thank all who attended, planned and supported the LEVA2011 Training Conference.I truly enjoyed the training and community discussion sessions.  It was great seeing everybody and meeting new peers, and in hindsight only wish I could have stayed for the evening events and more peer networking.  As always, I truly look forward to next time.  All the best. - LC

I was out in Indianapolis briefly yesterday to teach a couple of sessions during the LEVA LEVEL 2: DIGITAL MULTIMEDIA EVIDENCE PROCESSING course, which is wrapping up another great week of DME training for law enforcement professionals today at UIndy. Such a great learning environment with a truly talented instruction and support staff. Many thanks to LEVA, the other instructors, assistants, and yet another great group of students who made me feel right at home.

Congrats to everyone and safe travels home. Have a great weekend!

The Law Enforcement and Emergency Services Video Association (LEVA) is interested to know how the FVA community is handling law enforcement body worn video. One of their instructors, Keith Swanson, has compiled a brief survey on how the forensic video community is dealing with body worn video that addresses numbers of cameras, types of processing requests and whether or not community members are being asked to consult on an agancies' research and evaluation of this rapidly growing technology.

Imaging expert Dave Helmly of Adobe will present new applications and discuss next generation possibilities during the "Imaging Supersession" at the upcoming LEVA conference. This LEVA event is the debut forum for CS4!!!!

Here is your chance to learn what is available and what’s on the horizon. You can share ideas in an open forum on imaging procedures and practices.

Click here for more information on the 2008 International Video Evidence Symposium and Training Conference!

Fellow LEVA instructor Detective Keith Swanson of the Scottsdale, Arizona Police Department, is compiling data for a DME white paper. If you haven't already, take a moment to complete his very brief survey.

Click here to take the survey!

http://media-geek.com/images/myblog/frontpage/imaging_work_shop.jpg

This is a great opportunity to get this three-day, hands-on workshop at a special price.* Each student will have their own computer workstation and work with Adobe Photoshop CS4.

LEVA will be providing their Forensic Imaging Techniques course May 27th - 29th, 2009 at the LEVA DME Lab, which is located at the University of Indianapolis. Visit the LEVA training schedule for the latest on all of the LEVA's course offerings.

January 26-29, 2010 the Corona Police Department will host the Ocean Systems training course "Forensic Video Analysis - FVA 101, Introduction to Forensic Video Analysis".

The learning environment consists of lectures and hands-on exercises designed to allow the analyst to become familiar with the dTective system while working on real cases. Class is limited to 10 students so click here to find out more and get registered today!

LEVA is conducting a one week hands-on forensic video analysis program in Cheshire, England, June 15 – 19, 2009. The event is hosted by Key Forensic Services, a leading provider of forensic solutions in the United Kingdom.

Digital Video Evidence: The Quest for Accuracy and Reliability is developed for the beginner to advanced level analyst. This unique program is designed to share scientific techniques and methodologies employed to ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of video evidence and to maintain its credibility in the courtroom.  For complete details click here.

LEVA wrapped up their weeklong video evidence symposium and 2008 annual training conference in Orlando yesterday, and they've announced four newly certified analysts. Michael Klein, Lorraine Nagy, Michael Ornelas and Michael Plaxton are now among those who are LEVA Certified Forensic Video Analysts.

Apparently, the above Tweet has led some to believe that I am angry with LEVA.  I assure you that I am not.  You see, I build bridges, I don't burn them.  

Unfortunately, all things come to an end, and frankly I feel I've given all I can give for LEVA...physically, emotionally, and financially.

Intro to VirtualDub Session - Thursday @ 9:00 AM EST

This Thursday I will be leading a one-and-a-half-hour introductory session on VirtualDub at LEVA's 21st Annual Training & Development conference in Indianapolis, Indiana.

If you are an active LEVA member who is unable to attend this year's conference and would like to attend this session LIVE online, please send me an email or private message for details. There are limited online seats available.

This session will provide a brief overview of VirtualDub and the AVI file format.

Hope to see you in person, but if not…maybe I'll see you online. - LC

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.

Registration is now open for the Law Enforcement & Emergency Services Video Association (LEVA) 26th Annual Training Conference being held November 2 - 6, 2015 in Clearwater Beach, Fl. Hope to see you there!

Visit LEVA.org

LEVA will be providing the Advanced Forensic Video Analysis & the Law course September 14th - 18th, 2009 at the LEVA DME Lab. Only graduates of LEVA's Basic and Intermediate “Forensic Video Analysis and the Law” courses may apply, and seating is limited.

Visit the LEVA training schedule for the latest on all of LEVA's course offerings or click here for the complete advanced course details (PDF).

In support of LEVA member agency the Vancouver Police Department and the Integrated Riot Investigation Team (IRIT), LEVA announces the activation of the Forensic Video Analysis Response Team.

IRIT investigators are inundated with over 1600 hours of video depicting criminal acts that took place immediately following this summer's Stanely Cup hockey finals, including arson, looting, and serious assaults.

Between September 26th and October 9th over 40 LEVA Forensic Video Analysts will converge on the National Digital Multimedia Evidence Processing Lab at the University of Indianapolis to undertake the mass processing of DME.

For further information please feel free to contact LEVA President Blaine Davison via email at president@leva.org

The Cheshire Constabulary will be hosting the LEVAPhotographic/Video Comparison course in the United Kingdom April 26 - 30, 2010. This is the same highly regarded course that will be held at the LEVA Lab at UIndy again in May.

Photographic/Video Comparisons focuses on the science of comparing known objects, vehicles, clothing and humans with CCTV images of questioned objects, vehicles, clothing and humans. The process of cataloguing class characteristics and unique characteristics found in questioned evidence is examined in detail. Using Adobe Photoshop and other generally accepted scientific tools for imaging comparison work, analysts/examiners develop a scientific workflow involving the hands-on analysis of video evidence, criminal-case report writing and courtroom presentation.

For information on all of LEVA's training courses, including a complete schedule, please visit our LEVA Course Overviews & Schedule page.

The Law Enforcement and Emergency Services Video Association (LEVA) is participating in the development of a national standards document for police interview rooms.

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LEVA has announced that they will be providing their Photographic/Video Comparison Course May 18-22, 2009 in the LEVA DME Lab at the University of Indianapolis. The Photographic/Video Comparison focuses on the science of comparing known objects, vehicles, clothing and humans with CCTV images of questioned objects, vehicles, clothing and humans.

For LEVA's complete training schedule - click here.

LEVA has announced a special reduced pricing package to help government agencies meet their training requirements in these challenging economic times.

As of January 1, 2009, LEVA will bundle its prestigious 40-hour core training courses and others, providing significant cost reductions. All courses are conducted at LEVA’s Digital Multimedia Evidence Processing Lab at the University of Indianapolis, Indiana. Visit the LEVA Website for complete details.

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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