Case Study: Polish Court Interrogation Room Equipped with AREC to Help Children

Dear ADENA Partners, we would like to share an interesting case study from a District Court in Dąbrowa Górnicza, Poland. Our distributor Kontel and system integrator OST-Engineer equipped a special interrogation room with the AREC Media Capture System. This system is used to accurately capture and save interrogations of minors in a comfortable environment. Learn more about this solution below.

These days, Polish courts use what are called ‘Blue Rooms’. These are specially designed, friendly interrogation rooms for minors that are typically created outside of the main courtroom. The functions and equipment are necessary for such rooms are defined in Polish law. For example, the rooms must have a one-sided glass window to separate the prosecutors and defence lawyers from the interrogated child, but have the technical means for voice communication between them and the judge and psychologist conducting the interrogation. These rooms must have recording capabilities for audio and video, and capture the behaviour and expressions of interrogated children from every angle. Thanks to the efforts of our partners Kontel and OST-Engineer, the district court realised that AREC Media Capture System is the ideal solution for such rooms.

To capture the interrogation from every angle, the court is using a CI-21H PTZ network camera and two CI-303 static cameras. These cameras offer professional Full HD image quality and optical zoom, ensuring that the interrogation image is clear in every position. The operator controls the CI-21H and follows the child’s movements, while the static cameras with their 103° wide-angle field of view ensure that no details are left behind. The three cameras are recorded on an LS-300 Media Station, which mixes them in a single video and simultaneously records them separately for post-examination. The Media Station also uses ClearOne microphones as inputs: in the interrogation room, a 360° ceiling microphone collects all audio and removes unnecessary noise, whereas, on the other side of the window, the prosecution and defence address their questions through a gooseneck microphone. The whole system blends seamlessly in the environment: our cameras are mounted on brackets on the walls and are connected to the Media Station via network. The station itself is located behind one-way glass, ensuring that it does not disrupt the room design.

The court officials found the system reliable and very easy to use. Piotr Pałys, Head of the IT Section / IT Systems Administrator at the District Court in Dąbrowa Górnicza, commented that after some time from the implementation of the AREC solution, the system works perfectly and provides high-quality process material. The system ensures that children do not have to be interrogated several times and speeds up the court process significantly.

Is your local court looking for audiovisual systems to improve its media production? Contact us at www.a-dena.com and we will find the right solution for your project needs.