SHARED SERVER METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR INFORMATION STORAGE, ACCESS, AND SECURITY

Abstract

Devices and methods for managing multi-media files and associated metadata in a hybrid manner are disclosed. Methods for using the device(s) to implement different methods for managing information obtained (e.g., recorded) by a plurality of recording devices are also disclosed. This disclosure also relates to comprehensive use of multiple distinct surveillance systems in a coordinated manner. For example, a set of surveillance devices configured for use by one or more law enforcement agencies or other government agencies may share metadata to facilitate indexing, sharing, accessing, and coordinating potential surveillance recordings. In one example, metadata may be uploaded to cloud storage while associated multi-media files are maintained locally by the responsible agency. Maintaining metadata and actual multi-media content separately may reduce bandwidth transmission requirements and maintain confidentiality of surveillance recordings. Further, chain of custody of evidence requirements regarding digitally recorded evidence may be complied with.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of, and priority to, U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/044,139, filed Aug. 29, 2014, and entitled, “Compact Multi-Function DVR with Multiple Integrated Wireless Data Communication Devices,” which is incorporated herein by reference.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not applicable.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This disclosure relates generally to systems and methods to assist in managing information including both multi-media and associated metadata obtained (e.g., recorded) by a recording device. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, this disclosure relates to systems and methods for maintaining large multi-media files on local storage and associated metadata files on remote (e.g., cloud based) storage to facilitate searching, cataloging, indexing, audit tracking, accessibility, and other maintenance functions without requiring upload of large volumes of data.

BACKGROUND

Today's law enforcement agencies are increasing their use of digital data to collect surveillance information and other forms of data to be used as evidence in legal proceedings. Devices and methods for managing multi-media files collected as part of this surveillance and evidence collection are increasing over time. Multi-media files may be large. For example, a video or audio file may easily be megabytes in size depending on the length of the recording. Video files are typically larger than audio files and they become larger based on the resolution of the video recording. That is, higher resolution video files typically require larger file sizes than either audio or lower resolution video because of current audio and video compression techniques. Video files are also typically larger than corresponding audio files because they include more data than an audio recording.

Metadata associated with either audio recordings or video recordings is a relatively small amount of data compared to the audio or video data. However, today's systems typically embed the metadata as part of the audio or video data file such that access to the metadata requires access to the potentially large multi-media file. Also, most access programs require an entire file to understand the structure and content of the file itself. Accordingly, to access any metadata associated with a typical multi-media file, one must have complete access to the entire multi-media file.

SUMMARY

According to a first aspect of the invention, a computer system configured to collect and manage metadata associated with one or more multi-media recordings is disclosed. The computer system includes one or more processors and one or more network communication interfaces communicatively coupled to the one or more processors. The computer system also includes a storage area accessible to the one or more processors. The storage area may be used to store executable instructions for the processor(s) and to store any collected (e.g., recorded) information. Of course, these two types of data may be stored in separate logical areas of the storage area. Overall, the computer system may be configured, by the executable instructions, to receive, via the one or more network communication interfaces, metadata information pertaining to at least one multi-media recording. The metadata information may include information regarding attributes describing recording circumstances for the at least one multi-media recording and an access location for the at least one multi-media recording. The attributes describing recording circumstances will generally provide information about when, where, why, and possibly how the recording was made. This information about recording circumstances may be helpful to determine which recordings may be of interest for a given activity or search query.

In a second aspect of this disclosure, the computer system (or a separate computer system) may be further configured to process the metadata for the at least one multi-media recording to incorporate information into a global index or catalog of additional multi-media recordings. The additional multi-media recordings may be obtained from the same or a plurality of distinct capture devices. The overall global index may be useful to respond to query requests to identify potentially applicable multi-media recordings.

In a third aspect of this disclosure a method of managing a plurality of multi-media recordings is disclosed. The method may include receiving first metadata information having information regarding attributes describing recording circumstances attributable to a first multi-media recording obtained by a first recording device. The first metadata information may be stored in an associated external file rather than embedded into the multi-media recordings. The metadata may be correlated with other information about additional multi-media recordings. Overall, the metadata may be managed independently of the recordings and provide location information (e.g., storage location) for selected multi-media files. A user interface may be provided to allow query type functions to interface with the correlated information to identify potentially relevant recordings based on a query request.

In a fourth aspect of this disclosure, a docking station is disclosed. The docking station may be configured to manage the multi-media recordings and assist with overall management of multi-media recordings as discussed throughout this disclosure. The docking station may be configured to automate and possibly prioritize some or all of the disclosed management functions.

Other aspects of the embodiments described herein will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, illustrating the principles of the embodiments by way of example only.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

It being understood that the figures presented herein should not be deemed to limit or define the subject matter claimed herein, the applicants' disclosure may be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals identify like elements.

FIGS. 1A-B illustrate a rear view and a front view, respectively, of a device for capturing (e.g., recording) multi-media and metadata according to some disclosed embodiments.

FIGS. 2A-C illustrates block diagrams of a processing system and two example removable storage devices that may be used for the disclosed integrated mobile surveillance system to capture and store multi-media files and associated metadata according to some disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block system diagram showing some additional internal components for the device of FIGS. 1A-B, according to some disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates an intelligent docking, upload, and charging station for battery packs and portable recording devices according to some disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates a possible process flow to “checkout” a portable device (e.g., body worn camera, wireless microphone), including a storage device, that may be used by specific law enforcement personnel for the duration of checkout and assist in chain of custody procedures according to some disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates possible data flow and Software as a Service (SaaS) components for working with information stored in a “hybrid” manner according to some disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates a flow chart depicting one possible process for data mining of information collected by a plurality of surveillance systems according to some disclosed embodiments.

FIGS. 8A-F illustrate excerpts of metadata files using eXtensible Markup Language (XML) for the data format, according to some disclosed embodiments.

NOTATION AND NOMENCLATURE

Certain terms are used throughout the following description and claims to refer to particular system components and configurations. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, the same component may be referred to by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name but not function. In the following discussion and in the claims, the terms “including” and “comprising” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “including, but not limited to . . . . ” Also, the term “couple” or “couples” is intended to mean either an indirect or direct connection. Thus, if a first device couples to a second device, that connection may be through a direct connection, or through an indirect connection via other devices and connections.

As used throughout this disclosure the terms “computer device” and “computer system” will both be used to refer to an apparatus that may be used in conjunction with disclosed embodiments of connectable storage drives and self-contained removable storage devices. As used herein, a computer device may be thought of as having a subset of functionalities as compared to a computer system. That is, a computer device may refer to a special purpose processor-based device such as a digital video surveillance system primarily configured for executing a limited number of applications. A computer system may more generally refer to a general purpose computer such as a laptop, workstation, or server which may be configured by a user to run any number of off the shelf or specially designed software applications. Computer systems and computer devices will generally interact with disclosed storage drives included in embodiments of the disclosed portable recording device in the same or similar ways.

The term “hybrid storage” is used in this disclosure to describe that data associated with accessing and managing multi-media files may be stored in a plurality of locations as opposed to a single location and not embedded within the multi-media file itself. For example, metadata files containing attributes of associated multi-media files, and/or data collected or maintained in association with multi-media files, may be stored remotely from the multi-media files themselves. Metadata files are typically considerably smaller in size than multi-media files. Thus, metadata files are more easily transferred across data links that may have limited bandwidth. As explained further below, hybrid storage may allow for searching and indexing of numerous multi-media files without requiring unnecessary transfer of the potentially large multi-media files (e.g., video/audio recordings). For simplicity the term “multi-media” will be used throughout this disclosure to refer to files collected (e.g., recorded) by an audio or audio/video recorder. Multi-media files may include only audio, only video, or audio and video together and the information may be compressed using an industry standard compression technology (e.g., Motion Picture Expert Group (MPEG) standards, Audio Video Interleave (AVI), etc.) or another proprietary compression or storage format.

The term “recording circumstances” is used herein to describe that metadata information associated with an instance of a multi-media recording may contain information describing attributes associated with the act of actual recording of that multi-media file. That is, the metadata may describe who (e.g., Officer ID) or what (e.g., automatic trigger) initiated the recording. The metadata may also describe where the recording was made. For example, location may be obtained using global positioning system (GPS) information. The metadata may also describe why (e.g., event tag) the multi-media recording was made. In addition, the metadata may also describe when the recording was made using timestamp information obtained in association with GPS information or from an internal clock, for example. From these types of metadata, circumstances that caused the multi-media recording may provide more information about the multi-media recording. This metadata may include useful information to correlate multi-media recordings from multiple distinct surveillance systems. This type of correlation information, as described further below, may assist in many different functions (e.g., query, data retention, chain of custody, and so on).

This disclosure also refers to storage devices and storage drives interchangeably. In general, a storage device/drive represents a medium accessible by a computer to store data and executable instructions. Also, throughout this disclosure reference will be made to “plugging in” a storage drive. It is noted that “plugging in” a storage drive is just one way to connect a storage drive to a computer device/system. This disclosure is not intended to be limited to drives that physically “plug in” and disclosed embodiments are also applicable to devices that are “connected” to a computer device or computer system. For example devices may be connected by using a cable or by connecting using a computer bus. Additionally, references to “removable” storage are analogous to plugging-in/unplugging a device, connecting/disconnecting cabled access to a device, and/or establishing/disconnecting networked access to a device or storage area on a network (either wired or wireless).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS

While various embodiments are described herein, it should be appreciated that the present disclosure encompasses many inventive concepts that may be embodied in a wide variety of contexts. Thus, the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments, read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, is merely illustrative and is not to be taken as limiting the scope of this disclosure. Rather, the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

Illustrative embodiments of this disclosure are described below. In the interest of clarity, not all features of an actual implementation are described for every embodiment disclosed in this specification. In the development of any such actual embodiment, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the design-specific goals, which will vary from one implementation to another. It will be appreciated that such a development effort, while possibly complex and time-consuming, would nevertheless be a routine undertaking for persons of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide for management of multi-media files and associated metadata that might be collected by one or more, mobile surveillance systems, portable video recording devices, and other types of data recorders. The mobile (and possibly stationary) surveillance system devices may be configured to capture video, audio, and data parameters pertaining to activity in the vicinity of the surveillance system, for example a police vehicle. Other type of vehicles and other situations requiring a surveillance unit are also within the scope of this disclosure. Other types of vehicles may include, but are not limited to, any transportation means equipped with a mobile surveillance system (e.g., civilian transport trucks). The disclosed embodiments are explained in the context of mobile surveillance systems for vehicles that aid in law enforcement such as buses, ambulances, police motorcycles or bicycles, fire trucks, airplanes, boats, military vehicles, etc. However, in some embodiments, data collected from other types of vehicles including non law enforcement vehicles may be collected as a possible aid to law enforcement (or for other applicable uses), at least in part, because of the disclosed data mining and coordination techniques.

Mobile surveillance systems have been in use by police departments for the past few decades. Over that period of time, several advances have been introduced in the technology used to provide video/audio and data regarding specific police events. In the late 1990s through the early 2000s, digital technologies became prevalent in the industry, replacing existing analog technologies. With the use of digital technologies, law enforcement agencies obtained several advances over previous technologies and may further benefit from additional advances (e.g., as described in this disclosure). In general, digital technologies are more adaptable and offer more opportunities for improvement than corresponding analog technologies. This is largely because digital video/audio files can be processed in a multitude of ways by specifically configured computer devices. This disclosure elaborates on several novel techniques to enhance the capability, reliability, ease of use, security, integrity, and other aspects of mobile surveillance systems and the information they collect.

Today, there are numerous surveillance systems in use by law enforcement and the data they collect continues to increase in volume and complexity. Accordingly, enhanced management techniques for the amount of available data may be required. Additionally, there is a need to improve data access and distribution, integrity, reliability, and security throughout the lifecycle of that data. Legal requirements for data collected by a remote/mobile surveillance system include conformance to judiciary requirements such as “chain of custody/evidence,” and “preservation of evidence.” Chain of custody (CoC), in legal contexts, refers to the chronological documentation or paper trail audit, showing the seizure, custody, control, transfer, analysis, and disposition of physical or electronic evidence. Preservation of evidence is a closely related concept that refers to maintaining and securing evidence from a particular crime scene before it ultimately appears in a courtroom. For example, the evidence may go to a forensic laboratory prior to arriving at the courtroom. Evidence admissibility in court is predicated upon an unbroken chain of custody. It is important to demonstrate that the evidence introduced at trial is the same evidence collected at the crime scene [e.g. that is, all access to the evidence (e.g., electronic files) was controlled and documented], and that the evidence was not altered in any way. Requirements for law enforcement are further described in “Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Security Policy,” version 5.3 published Aug. 4, 2014 referenced as “CJISD-ITS-DOC-08140-5.3” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

As will be recognized, disclosed embodiments may allow for comprehensive back-office video management software to be provided using a Software as a Service (SaaS) architecture, giving each agency (even small remote agencies) the tools they need to capture, transfer, store and manage their digital video evidence from car to court. That is, the disclosed system and back-office management techniques meet the preservation of evidence requirements outlined above with respect to management of digital evidence for law enforcement. All activity with respect to digital evidence in the back-office system may be logged to ensure proper documentation of evidence handling. The disclosed system may include electronic transfer of evidence in a controlled manner and may provide comprehensive coordination of potential evidence captured from a plurality of surveillance systems. The disclosed system may also include integrated DVD burning software for easy and accurate evidence transfer.

Referring now to FIGS. 1A-B, disclosed embodiments of an integrated mobile surveillance system 100 are intended to incorporate a plurality of functions as being “built-in” to mobile surveillance system 100. Additionally, aspects of integrated mobile surveillance system 100 have been designed with consideration for future expansion as new technologies and capabilities become available. Aspects of integrated system 100 include, but are not limited to, the following integrated functional units. Integrated system 100 may be configured to have one or more than one of each of these functional units, as appropriate. Integrated wireless microphone antenna connector 105 allows capture of audio from a remote wireless microphone located within proximity of integrated system 100. An external multi-conductor interface cable 110 allows a wired connection to one or more internal interfaces of integrated system 100. One or more Universal serial bus (USB) ports, such as USB port 140, may be provided for general peripheral connectivity and expansion according to some disclosed embodiments. An integrated global positioning system (GPS) module 120 with optional external antenna or connector 115 is used in part for capturing location data, time sync, and speed logging. The GPS information may also be used for time synchronization and to coordinate data, ultimately facilitating map based search and synchronization (e.g., locate recorded information from a time and/or location across a plurality of recording devices). Dual front facing cameras 125 may include both a wide angle video camera and a tight field of view camera for optical zoom effect snap shots. A record indicator 130 provides an indication of a current operating mode for integrated system 100. A wired Ethernet adapter (e.g., Gigabit, 10/100 BASE-T, etc.) 135 (or a wireless network adapter, not shown) for data upload, computer interface, remote display and configuration. Additionally, multiple wireless data communication devices (not shown) may be integrated for flexibility and expansion. For example, the system may include adapters conforming to wireless communication specifications and technologies such as, 802.11, Bluetooth, radio-frequency identification (RFID), and near field communication (NFC). Each of these interfaces may be used, at least in part, for data exchange, device authentication, and device control. A serial port (not shown) may be used to interface with radar/laser speed detection devices and other devices as needed. A G-Sensor/Accelerometer (not shown) may be used for impact detection and to automatically initiate record mode. The G-Sensor/Accelerometer may also provide data logging for impact statistics and road condition data. A DIO (Digital Input/Output) (not shown) that may be used for external triggers to activate record mode and/or provide metadata to the system. The DIO can also be used to control external relays or other devices as appropriate. The DIO can also be used to detect brake, light bar, car door, and gun lock so that the video recording can be automatically triggered. As shown in FIGS. 1A-B, a combination power button and brightness control 145 can be used to turn on the system and control the brightness of the monitor after the system is turned on. Programmable function button 150 provides a user definable external button for easy access to instigate any function provided by integrated system 100. For example, rather than traversing through a set of menus on articulating touchscreen 165, a user may define function button 150 to perform an action with one touch (e.g., instant replay, event tagging of a particular type, etc.). A articulating touchscreen 165 may be used to view video in real-time, or in one or more play back modes. Touchscreen 165 may also serve as an input mechanism, providing a user interface to integrated system 100. An integrated speaker (not shown) may be used for in-car audio monitoring and in-car video/audio file playback. An integrated internal battery 155 for proper shutdown in the event of sudden power loss from the vehicle that might occur as a result of a crash, for example, is shown. Also depicted is a removable SSD Flash drive 170 (e.g., secure digital (SD) or universal serial bus (USB) type), including any type of storage that may be inserted or attached to the system via a storage interface (e.g., SCSI, SATA, etc.). For security of access to data, removable SSD flash drive 170 may be secured via a mechanical removable media key lock 160. In some embodiments, event based data is recorded and written to the removable drive to be transferred to a back office server for storage and management. Wireless microphone sync contacts 175 may be configured to synchronize a wireless microphone/camera, such as a body worn camera and microphone, for communication with integrated system 100. In addition to actual sync contacts, that require physical contact, other synchronization methods for wireless microphone/cameras include utilizing NFC or RFID capability between the wireless device and integrated system 100.

In addition to the components mentioned above, disclosed embodiments of integrated mobile surveillance system 100 may be configured to include functional components to provide operational characteristics that may include the following. In accordance with some embodiments, a pre-event playback function may be used to tag historical events. In normal operation, integrated mobile surveillance system 100 may record continuously to internal storage and store tagged information (e.g., marked for export) to removable storage. However, for the case of an incident that occurs without a timely event trigger, the operator may instruct the system to navigate back to an earlier time captured in the internal storage and play back that portion of video/audio information. The selected video, at any available point in time, may be marked, tagged for extraction, and stored to removable storage, as if the event had been tagged at that point in time. In accordance with some other embodiments, a component may provide an instant replay function configured to playback the last predetermined amount of time with one button press. Note that both the instant replay and pre-event playback (along with general system operation) allow for simultaneous playback while the system is concurrently recording information. Pre-defined event tags and a pre-defined event tagging functions may also be provided. For example, tags may include DWI, felony, speeding, stop sign, chase, etc. The tagging action may be used to catalog portions of recorded data. For example, after an event is indicated as ending (e.g., such as stop recording indication), an option to select a predefined event may be displayed. Upon selection the system may allow an associated portion of collected information to be marked in a text file for current and future identification and storage. Further, when the tagged information is transferred to the data management software, the tagged information may be searched by event type and maintained on the server for a predefined retention period based on the event type. A streaming function may also be provided to stream live view and recorded video, audio, and/or data over available wireless and wired networks. The integrated system 100 may also integrate “hotspot” capabilities which allow the system to serve as an agency accessible, mobile wireless local area network (WLAN).

Referring now to FIGS. 2A-C, possible internals and peripheral components of an example device 200, which may be used to practice the disclosed functional capabilities of integrated surveillance system 100, are shown. Example device 200 comprises a programmable control device 210 which may be optionally connected to input device 260 (e.g., keyboard, mouse, touchscreen, etc.), display 270 or program storage device 280. Also, included with programmable control device 210 is a network interface 240 for communication via a network with other computers and infrastructure devices (not shown). Note network interface 240 may be included within programmable control device 210 or be external to programmable control device 210. In either case, programmable control device 210 may be communicatively coupled to network interface 240. Also, note Program Storage Device (PSD) 280 represents any form of non-volatile storage including, but not limited to, all forms of optical and magnetic storage elements including solid-state storage.

Program control device 210 may be included in a device 200 and be programmed to perform methods, including hybrid storage of metadata and associated multi-media files, in accordance with this disclosure. Program control device 210 comprises a processor unit (PU) 220, input-output (I/O) interface 250 and memory 230. Processing unit (PU) 220 may include any programmable controller device including, for example, the Intel Core®, Pentium® and Celeron® processor families from Intel and the Cortex ARM processor families from ARM® (INTEL® CORE®, PENTIUM® and CELERON® are registered trademarks of the Intel Corporation. CORTEX® is a registered trademark of the ARM Limited Corporation. ARM® is a registered trademark of the ARM Limited Company). Memory 230 may include one or more memory modules and comprise random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), programmable read only memory (PROM), programmable read-write memory, and solid state memory. One of ordinary skill in the art will also recognize that PU 220 may also include some internal memory including, for example, cache memory.

Various changes in the materials, components, circuit elements, as well as in the details of the illustrated systems, devices and below described operational methods are possible without departing from the scope of the claims herein. For instance, acts in accordance with disclosed functional capabilities may be performed by a programmable control device executing instructions organized into one or more modules (comprised of computer program code or instructions). A programmable control device may be a single computer processor (e.g., PU 220), a plurality of computer processors coupled by a communications link or one or more special purpose processors (e.g., a digital signal processor or DSP). Such a programmable control device may be one element in a larger data processing system such as a general purpose computer system. Storage media, as embodied in storage devices such as PSD 280 and memory internal to program control device 210 are suitable for tangibly embodying computer program instructions. Storage media may include, but not be limited to: magnetic disks (fixed, floppy, and removable) and tape; optical media such as CD-ROMs and digital video disks (DVDs); and semiconductor memory devices such as Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), Programmable Gate Arrays and flash devices. These types of storage media are also sometimes referred to as computer readable medium or program storage devices.

FIG. 2B illustrates a secure digital (SD) card 285 that may be configured as the programmable storage device described above. An SD card is a nonvolatile memory card format for use in portable devices, such as mobile phones, digital cameras, handheld consoles, and tablet computers, etc. An SD card may be inserted into a receptacle on the device conforming to the SD specification or may alternately be configured with an interface to allow plugging into a standard USB port (or other port). An example of the adapter for USB compatibility 286 is illustrated in FIG. 2C. Modern computer operating systems are typically configured to automatically permit access to an SD card when it is plugged into an active computer system (sometimes referred to as plug-n-play). In computing technologies, a plug and play device or computer bus is one with a specification that provides for or facilitates the discovery of a hardware component in a system without the need for physical device configuration or user intervention in resolving resource conflicts. Because of additional security requirements regarding data access with respect to the law enforcement field, disclosed systems may incorporate a specifically modified interface to the removable storage drive utilized in device 100 (i.e., removable media 170). Modifications permitting specialized access to removable media, such as a secure storage drive, are described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/588,139, entitled “Hidden Plug-in Storage Drive for Data Integrity,” by Hung C. Chang, which is incorporated by reference herein. Modifications permitting specialized functionality from removable media are described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/593,722, entitled “Self-contained Storage Device for Self-contained Application Execution,” by Allan Chen et al., which is incorporated by reference herein.

Referring now to FIG. 3, block diagram 300 illustrates one embodiment of an integrated audio-video-data surveillance system. Note that each of the components shown in block diagram 300 may be communicatively coupled to other components via communication channels (e.g., bus) not shown in the block diagram. The flow arrows of block diagram 300 are general in nature to illustrate the movement of information. In use, video and audio may be captured by camera 305 and microphone 306 respectively. Captured data may be provided initially to video/audio encoder 310 to encode and optionally compress the raw video data and the encoded data may be stored in a memory area (not shown) for access by CPU 315. Encoded data may also be selectively stored to either internal failsafe hard drive 320 or removable mobile hard drive 325 individually or to both simultaneously. Data may also be transferred, for example at the direction of a user, from internal failsafe hard drive 320 to removable mobile hard drive 325. Data capture devices such as general purpose input output (GPIO) 330 and GPS 331 may be used to capture metadata to associate with captured surveillance information (e.g., multi-media files). All pertinent captured metadata may be associated with captured video/audio recordings using structured text files such as, for example, eXtensible Markup Language (XML) files. An example of such structured text files is explained in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 8A-F. In addition to captured metrics provided by real-time capture inputs, XML files may be utilized to store many different types of metadata associated with captured video and data. This collection of metadata may be used to describe “recording circumstances” attributable to the surveillance information (e.g., multi-media recordings). That is, the metadata may describe, when, where, who, and why information, among other things, to indicate information about the act of recording the surveillance information. The metadata may include, but not be limited to, timestamps of capture, [internal clock (not shown) of system 100 may be synchronized using GPS data] event tags, GPS coordinates, GPS and RADAR/LIDAR measurement from a target vehicle, breathalyzer analysis information, analytical information, and so on. Analytical information will be discussed in more detail below with reference to FIG. 7. Wireless interface 335 (or a wired interface (not shown) when available) may be used to upload information from one or more surveillance systems to back office servers located, for example, at a police station or to cloud based resources. Back office servers and cloud based resources will be discussed in more detail below with reference to FIG. 6.

Referring now to FIG. 4, advanced docking station 400 may provide additional benefits for users that maintain a plurality of portable body worn cameras 450 and/or a plurality of surveillance systems. Some or all portable body worn cameras 450 may incorporate one or more programmable function buttons 405. As shown in FIG. 4, docking station 400 may have multiple ports/cradles 415. Docking station 400 may assist in data upload, device checkout, device upgrade (e.g., firmware/software update), recharging of battery packs 420 and other maintenance type functions that may be performed, for example, at a police station. For clarity, not all repeated elements in FIG. 4 have an associated reference number. Embodiments of the disclosed docking station may support maintenance functions for multiple portable devices such as body worn cameras 450 concurrently. The disclosed docking station 400 may be multifunctional for uploading and/or downloading of video/audio and associated metadata. Configuration data such as unit ID, user ID, operational modes, updates, and so on, may be maintained and versions of such configuration information may be presented on display screen 410 (which may also be a touchscreen interface to docking station 400).

Docking station 400 may have integrated interfaces to different types of surveillance systems. Interfaces such as, USB, wired Ethernet or wireless network, as well as interface ports for battery charging may be included. Docking station 400 may also contain: a CPU and be configured as a computer device (see FIG. 1) with optional integrated touchscreen display 410, output connectors (not shown) for an optional external display/mouse or device expansion. Docking station 400 may have an option for a wireless display (not shown) to be used for status indication as well as for an interface for checkout/assignment of surveillance system devices to a user or group of users (See FIG. 5). Docking station 400 may include wireless communications such as Bluetooth and/or 802.4AC/AD. Docking station 400 may also be configured to work as an Access Point for a wireless network or may be configured to act as a bridge to allow portable client devices to access functionality of docking station 400 and possibly connect to other system components including local or cloud based servers. Docking station 400 may also include functional software or firmware modules to support hybrid storage of recorded multi-media and associated metadata automatically. Hybrid storage is discussed in more detail below with reference to FIG. 7.

Docking station 400 may also have an internal storage device to facilitate fast off-load storage which may be used to facilitate a download/forward process for audio/video and metadata captured on a surveillance system device (e.g. the body worn camera 450). For example, the user may place the body worn camera 450 into a docking station cradle 415 and docking station 400 offloads the data to the local onboard storage drive (not shown) which can immediately (or based on a timer) upload that information, or a portion thereof if hybrid model, to a server (e.g., back office server or cloud storage). Uploads may be prioritized based on many different attributes such as time, size, event type priority, and so on. Docking station 400 may also have an integrated locking mechanism for one or more of the uploading/charging ports/cradles 415. The docking station 400 may be configured to control the locking mechanism to hold or release the wearable device in order to prevent the user from taking it out during uploading/downloading, or to make sure that only the recently “checked out” device is removed, for example.

The touchscreen display 410 of FIG. 4 illustrates one possible graphical user interface (GUI) layout as an example only. Actual layouts may contain more information and features and may be configurable based on requirements of different end users. In FIG. 4, the GUI shows examples of upload status and battery charging progress. Other screens may be available on the GUI display 410 to provide other status information such as unit ID, user ID, and/or to assist with user checkout and assignment of devices to different mobile surveillance systems.

Referring now to FIG. 5, process flow 500 illustrates a possible method for assisting law enforcement personnel with compliance to chain of custody of evidence requirements for legal evidence. Chain of custody of evidence requirements may be implemented with the assistance of docking station 400. In this example, the computer device at the police station is considered to be docking station 400 (but may be another workstation type device for example) and a computer device in a police car, for example, will be referred to as a “mobile surveillance system.” Both docking station 400 and the mobile surveillance system are examples embodiments of computer device 100 of FIG. 1 described above. Beginning at block 505 a portable recording apparatus (e.g., body worn camera 450) including a storage device (e.g., 285, 286) is “checked in” at a police station, for example. In the “checked in” state the portable recording device may be connected to docking station 400 that is configured to interact with the storage device of the portable recording device. At block 510, docking station 400 receives a request to assign a portable recording device (e.g., body worn camera 450, or wireless microphone) to an officer (e.g., Officer “Joe Smith”) for use in a patrol “shift.” The request may, for example, come from a GUI presented on touchscreen 410. Optionally, the request may also include information to assign the portable recording device to a particular mobile surveillance system for that shift (e.g., surveillance system of “patrol car 54”). At block 515, docking station 400 writes control information to the storage device of portable recording device to identify an appropriate mobile device (e.g., 301). The control information may include storage serial number, officer's ID (e.g., “Joe”), patrol car (e.g., “54”), officer's password (likely encrypted), recording parameter settings, or other information useful in assisting in audit tracking of the portable recording device and any information collected on the storage device of the portable recording device during the shift. At block 520, the portable recording device is removed from docking station 400 for association with a mobile surveillance system (e.g., 301). The portable recording device (e.g., 450) is now in a “checked out” state.

At block 525, the officer authenticates to a mobile surveillance system. The portable recording device is connected to the mobile surveillance system at block 530. Flow continues to block 535 where the storage device of the portable recording device (e.g., 450) becomes accessible to the mobile surveillance system if authentication information is accurate. Authentication may require that the mobile surveillance system match a previously identified (e.g., at checkout) mobile surveillance system and may optionally only become available after a second check that a proper officer has authenticated to the mobile surveillance system. That is, both the portable recording device is associated with a proper surveillance system (e.g. 301), and the authenticated user will be validated as a proper user. Thus, in this example, Officer “Joe Smith” is authenticated to the mobile surveillance system and the mobile surveillance system is the one in patrol car 54. In this example the surveillance system in patrol car 54 is the system which Officer Smith should be using for his shift. Accordingly, prior to allowing any access to the storage drive of the portable recording device from the mobile surveillance system both attributes should be verified. Such increased authentication methods may assist in compliance with chain of custody of evidence requirements for gathering and maintenance of evidence. Note that some law enforcement agencies require a two-factor authentication for access to data. Validating “checkout information” regarding both the portable device and the authenticated officer (e.g., both the association with the surveillance system of patrol car 54 and confirming Officer Smith is logged into that system) is one example of two-factor authentication.

At block 540, as the officer performs his shift duties (e.g., goes on patrol, etc.), the mobile surveillance system records and stores evidence and surveillance data onto the storage device of the portable recording device. During the shift, all data recorded on the storage device may be associated with the officer for audit tracking purposes as indicated at block 545. For example, a metadata file may be used to “mark” any recorded data with officer's ID, event type, date/time, GPS location, etc.

Next, at block 550 actions that may take place at the end of a shift, for example, are performed. After a shift is completed and the officer, mobile surveillance system, and portable recording device return to the police station, recorded data may be securely (for example, but not limited to, by data encryption) uploaded wirelessly to a back office system at the police station. Securely uploaded, as used here, indicates that the recorded data will be uploaded in a manner as to maintain its association with the officer and maintain chain of custody of evidence requirements as well as any other type of security regarding the wireless network, etc. As an alternative to wireless upload, the officer may remove (e.g., disconnect) the portable recording device (e.g., 450) and relocate the portable recording device to the same or a different docking station 400 for upload at the police station. At block 555, the officer may “check in” the portable recording device so as to allow a different officer to use it on a subsequent shift. For example, checking in may be performed using a GUI interface to docking station 400.

In accordance with some embodiments, the above description discloses how multi-media files and associated metadata may be collected. In accordance with other embodiments, a hybrid model for storing and analyzing information may be beneficial for small and large law-enforcement agencies. Law-enforcement agencies with limited staffing and resources may find it difficult to adopt in-car or wearable video system technologies that involve complex, expensive and cumbersome components. For example, an in-house server based solution may require experienced computer technicians/specialists to maintain proper hardware operations. A non-server based solution may also be challenging because it may lack the functions such as system configuration, video search and storage management, and evidence life-cycle maintenance. It is contemplated that a cloud based SaaS solution may offer the proper flexibility and convenience required for such law enforcement agencies. Additionally, the disclosed hybrid model for storing metadata independently from actual multi-media files may more effectively work for agencies having limited bandwidth capabilities.

In some disclosed embodiments, a remote application and database server may be hosted by a software as a service (SaaS) cloud application to reduce (or eliminate) the need to hire additional computer technicians. Some disclosed embodiments may be implemented in a hybrid cloud and provide local (on site) data storage for portions of data that require high bandwidth across a network (e.g., Internet, police network) while maintaining metadata in the cloud. This configuration may help ensure security and integrity of digital evidentiary data by maintaining a single global copy of metadata in the cloud (for storage) while still allowing fast local access speeds for review of potentially large video/audio files. Also, optionally, data on a shared server may be downloaded to the local data storage site as backup data and then re-uploaded to a remote (or cloud based) site if there is a systems failure or “intrusion” attack at the remote (or cloud based site).

To eliminate the need for (or to augment) a conventional DVD burner based system, the user may auto upload all data and metadata to the cloud. Optionally, a user may provide (or user event tags may be used as) identification criteria for certain types of videos (and their metadata) to be sent to the cloud automatically as soon as the videos are uploaded to a server (or staged on docking station 400) with certain “event type” metadata. For example, an administrator may define: all DUI videos are sent to cloud based storage and 2 DVD copies are burned. When an officer tags a video as a DUI event type, as soon as the video is uploaded to the cloud, the video may also be sent to a DVD burner for 2 copies automatically. Alternatively, rather than burning DVD copies, an email may be automatically generated and sent or instructions may be provided to an employee to create and send an email with a time limited access link to personnel or third parties (e.g., prosecuting attorney) who may have an interest in a DUI event. Based on the tag type assigned, a wide number of triggers and follow-on responses may be generated automatically. Furthermore, actions relating to compliance with record retention policies may be automatically generated so that as specific retention periods pass, records are automatically deleted. Thus, the user may readily and easily take advantage of cloud-based storage for an almost limitless cataloguing and archiving device.

Referring now to FIG. 6, data flow in a content management system that integrates with SaaS functionality is illustrated in block diagram 600. The SaaS component may be a system which typically includes a web-based portal that is the entry point to the software services for all users requiring data access. As with other data access points, access may be controlled by authentication means such as, but not limited to, passwords, fingerprints, encryption, and so on. Authorized users may search media catalogues which may be generated from metadata obtained from a single agency or from multiple jurisdictional agencies. Users may also manage all the configuration settings of mobile/portable video/audio recording devices via a cloud based control portal. Having metadata in the cloud facilitates many different functions, such as, query search of metadata associated with audio, video or print media. The metadata in the cloud and an associated interface portal may allow access to any evidentiary logs associated with the data (local or cloud based) and access a user's local hardware/software storage to review media that may not have been uploaded to cloud storage (e.g., because of bandwidth/storage constraints). That is, the cloud based system may include enough information to allow secure access back to local storage (e.g., 644 and 642) so that a user at police station 640 may efficiently view locally stored multi-media files. Alternatively, a user located remotely from police station 640 may obtain access (e.g., secure access via virtual private network VPN) to network and storage infrastructure at police station 640 and perform desired actions on multi-media files. Of course, bandwidth constraints of the obtained remote access (e.g., VPN) may have an effect on what actions a remote user decides to perform.

Local hardware/software storage at police station 640 may be any storage device, such as local hard drives, removable drives, or any type of network storage device, and so on. As shown in FIG. 6, the SaaS functions may incorporate cloud storage (630) which is not typically as limited in storage capacity as local hardware/software storage. However, remote access to large files may have associated communication bandwidth concerns. Such a SaaS content management system may limit data handling (and thus the potential for breaking the evidentiary chain of custody). Data handling may also be limited by initiating data transfer from the local collection point via an upload of data to the cloud storage using the web-based portal. The user may determine which data will remain on local storage and which data resides in the cloud. For example, in such a hybrid storage solution, metadata relating to GIS information and applications for performing data analysis may reside in the cloud, while the related audio/video files remain at the user's facility. This is largely based on the size of the files and recognition that bandwidth to cloud storage may affect access to large files. However, in some situations bandwidth concerns are not a determining factor and other segmentation of data may be desired. In the case where hybrid storage is implemented and a user has local access to large files, a user may more efficiently interact with metadata in the cloud and local multi-media files.

A cloud-based 630 video export and access system does away with the hardware and ongoing maintenance costs of optical media based systems by providing users a secure, controlled, reliable and cost-effective method for sending video and data to third parties. Video and data may be uploaded to the cloud for storage, one or more third party recipients may be assigned access rights, and a defined expiration date for third party access may also be provided. Additionally, use of the cloud may permit real-time data upload and storage which provides nearly limitless data storage capacity for integrated system 100 (FIGS. 1A and 1B). Hybrid storage models may be implemented to define pre-requisites as to what actual multi-media files are stored in the cloud. In some embodiments, only multi-media files requiring access by third parties are uploaded to the cloud. In other embodiments, only multi-media files that have been tagged with a particular event type are uploaded to the cloud. In either or both of these embodiments, other multi-media files that may be less important or have not yet been fully analyzed may be maintained on local storage for future consideration. Note that even though multi-media files may be maintained on local storage it may be desirable to upload associated metadata to the cloud based system to provide more comprehensive indexing and searching functionality across all recorded data.

Exported data may be stored in cloud-based storage that is remotely accessible through a secured means (for example, but not limited to, a password, finger print reader, etc). The system may be configured to send one or more recipients an access link through automated communication methods such as email, text, and mms, etc. The link sent to each recipient may include an expiration date for accessing the associated data. The system may also allow a recipient of the link to review the data stored in the cloud via the Internet, download a local copy of the data for future use, and delete the data after review or download. The link sent to each recipient may also limit access rights of recipients (e.g. read only, data editing, deletion, etc.).

In order to comply with laws, court orders or record-retention policies relating to data access, the system may be configured to remove the accessible data after a predetermined expiration date. A cloud-based system thus allows users to retain the original data while limiting third party access to such data. Once an access link has expired, no third party may access the expired data. The disclosed SaaS system may also provide bookkeeping functions to track content access, bandwidth usage, and subscription expiration, etc. This bookkeeping function may be capable of statistical analysis and billing and may generate reports and invoices as needed.

FIG. 6 also graphically illustrates an example data exchange flow in block diagram 600, thorough which video, audio, and print data and associated metadata may be shared. Numerous users, computer-based functionalities, storage options, and associated lines of communication may be involved in data uploading and downloading. For example, one or several police vehicles 610 may transmit video and audio data and associated metadata via wireless communication means 605 to a cloud storage system 630. Concurrently (or as needed), this data or a subset of this data may be made accessible to software applications, for example SaaS functions 620, via communication link 606. Police vehicle(s) 610 may also manually download data and metadata to local storage 644 upon arrival at police station 640 using data transmission channel 660. Data transmission channel 660 may be a wired connection or a wireless connection. In an alternative, a classical “sneakernet” may be used by connecting a portable recording device to another device (e.g., docking station 400). After connection data may be uploaded to local storage 644, which is located at the police station, and then optionally (based on a number of different criteria) to the cloud 630 using any appropriate connection (e.g., 645, 650 or another available connection).

In the example of block diagram 600, an integrated surveillance system vendor 670 oversees and maintains SaaS functions 620 utilizing communication channel 665. The vendor may also optionally maintain the security and integrity of any cloud based storage system 630 utilizing communication channel 666. Vendor 670 may also provide all necessary technical support through its SaaS functions 620 and communication channel 645 to assist police station 640 in implementing best practices in the preservation of data evidence. Police station 640, depending on available resources, may have “in-house” routers (not shown) and surveillance system backend server(s) 642 which provide redundant data storage systems. Police station 640, in order to avoid expensive data storage solutions, may optionally utilize cloud storage 630 via communication channel 650 in a hybrid manner. Cloud storage system 630 may also communicate directly with SaaS functions through communications channel 655. Having multiple channels of secured communications may provide rapid and efficient data exchange while use of various storage means, (locally or cloud-based) allows an inexpensive and flexible alternative to resource-limited users.

Referring now to FIG. 7, flow chart 700 illustrates a potential data mining strategy for captured data. The disclosed data mining strategy may benefit from the above discussed hybrid storage model in a number of ways. Example benefits across a single agency or multiple jurisdictionally distinct entities may include sharing of information without violating privacy or other data access concerns. Sample use cases are described following this overview of flow chart 700. Beginning at block 705, at least one surveillance system automatically captures video and audio data and associates that captured data with GPS positioning, timestamp, and other information captured as metadata while the vehicle containing the surveillance system is “on-patrol”. All such video and audio data (including metadata) from a single or multiple “on-patrol” vehicles at block 710 may be uploaded to a central storage area (e.g., a cloud) at the end of a law enforcement personnel shift. At decision 715, it is determined by specially configured software/firmware if a captured data segment has an associated tag (e.g., event type). If not (NO prong of decision 715) then a default tag and associated data retention policy may be applied to the captured data as shown at block 725. The captured data segment for untagged capture may be stored in an area of a computer hard drive with continuous loop function such that oldest data is overwritten by newer data. Alternatively, if a data segment has an associated tag (the YES prong of decision 715), a retention criteria based on the tag type may be applied and the appropriate data stored with other tagged data as illustrated by block 720. As required, any necessary evidentiary access controls as illustrated by block 720 may be considered. At block 730, data mining is performed. Information gathered from the data mining function may be used to provide a global index of data (e.g., index of data across all available metadata). Indexed data remains available until the time limit for data retention is reached and then data (and its associated index information) may be expunged. However, if as in block 735, an unpredicted event occurs, for example, a bombing, terrorist activity, report of previous criminal activity etc., then, at block 740, the data mined in block 730 (for a particular location, date and time) may be retrieved to assist with investigation and evidence gathering. Optionally, as shown in block 745, the overall system may be configured to proactively apply analytics to the captured metadata to identify possible criminal activity or potential threats to public health and safety (e.g., face or pattern recognition analysis to identify a known criminal or threat). Such analysis may then be used to produce an analytics report as is shown at block 750. The analytics report, for example, may then be reviewed by law enforcement personnel to assist with an investigation or determine if further investigation is required.

Collecting metadata from multiple surveillance systems to create a comprehensive index may allow a law-enforcement agency to correlate information from different systems. For example, if a set of recordings from different patrol cars at a given geographical location are of interest, then the metadata containing GPS information may identify a subset of multi-media files that may be of interest. If multiple agencies use a common global index, they may be made aware of recordings that other agencies have obtained that would otherwise be unknown to them. After following appropriate legal procedures, they may obtain access to recordings from other agencies to assist in gathering evidence. Note that access to actual multi-media recordings may not be made available because of privacy concerns, for example, but the global index informs of the existence of potentially relevant information. In this manner, coordinated inter-agency information sharing may be enhanced. The hybrid storage model facilitates creation of a global index because the overall size of actual multi-media recordings across numerous surveillance devices may quickly become unmanageable. Additionally, chain of custody of evidence and access controls to actual multi-media files may be maintained.

Each agency may implement the hybrid storage model as necessary based on their size and infrastructure capabilities. Hybrid techniques may also be implemented as a sliding scale. That is, at one extreme a maximal hybrid technique uploads all (or nearly all) captured metadata and associated multi-media files. For example, a large police station with a big cloud presence and high bandwidth might use the maximal hybrid model. In another extreme, a minimal hybrid technique would upload only enough metadata for indexing and very few (if any) multi-media files. The minimal amount of metadata may allow for global indexing as necessary so that, when required, additional upload of data may be requested from the agency implementing the minimal hybrid model.

Referring now to FIGS. 8A-F, examples of the metadata referenced throughout this disclosure are shown in an example XML file format. Note that because of the structure provided by XML each of the metadata portions of FIGS. 8A-F may be stored in a single file, multiple files or any other appropriate segregation. Each element of an XML file is partitioned by tags (i.e., <row> followed by </row> as shown in FIGS. 8A-F). For example, a start tag (i.e., <row>) as shown at the beginning of element 805 and an end tag (i.e., </row>) as shown at the end of element 805. According to some disclosed embodiments, the actual root name of the file (e.g. filename with no extension) is used as a key for associating the recorded audio/video with the appropriate metadata file. Inside the example element 805 of FIG. 8A there are attribute/value pairs to provide a metadata parameter name and its associated value for that attribute. Metadata attributes shown in FIGS. 8A-F have self-evident names and therefore are not discussed individually here. The examples provided are simply to illustrate that a multitude of different types of data may be captured and used to index or further maintain associated captured surveillance data. In these examples, FIG. 8A illustrates a video metadata file for a captured video segment while FIG. 8F illustrates an XML segment that contains the VX-Sync data. In this embodiment, the “V” of “VX” is used to reference the particular video and the “X” to reference any event variable associated with the particular video. For example, during the recording, any action taken by a user, such as an action that triggered the recording, e.g. pushing a wireless microphone, or activation of a light bar, or the taking of a snapshot, will be recorded in this metadata file and associated with the variable X for future connection with the video V. FIG. 8B illustrates a sample metadata file with attributes and values relating to in-car activity logs based on personnel shifts, while FIG. 8C illustrates a file portion that relates to GPS location metadata based on personnel shifts, and FIG. 8D illustrates in-car error logs per personnel shift. In the example shown in FIG. 8D, there are no errors to report. FIG. 8E illustrates an example metadata file that may be used to establish an audit trail for the associated video to satisfy evidentiary requirements relating to chain of custody.

FIG. 8C illustrates a series of “collected” metadata elements where several attributes have been assigned values based on data collection. For example, the attribute “patrol unit” has a value to identify a particular police vehicle and the officerID attribute has a value corresponding to the identification of a specific officer. Note that officerID may be initially blank as in elements 820 and 825, and then be assigned an ID number as an officer logs onto (e.g., successfully authenticates to) the integrated system 100 (FIGS. 1A and 1B) as in shown in element 830. Another attribute may be “log time” (element 835, FIG. 8E) which is the date and time that a data record is captured. Yet other attributes, which are self explanatory based on their name, may indicate changes in longitude and latitude reflective of the vehicle that is in motion. In addition the speed and velocity of the vehicle in motion may be reflected in the metadata.

In light of the principles and example embodiments described and illustrated herein, it will be recognized that the example embodiments can be modified in arrangement and detail without departing from such principles. Also, the foregoing discussion has focused on particular embodiments, but other configurations are also contemplated. In particular, even though expressions such as “in one embodiment,” “in another embodiment,” or the like are used herein, these phrases are meant to generally reference embodiment possibilities, and are not intended to limit the invention to particular embodiment configurations. As used herein, these terms may reference the same or different embodiments that are combinable into other embodiments. As a rule, any embodiment referenced herein is freely combinable with any one or more of the other embodiments referenced herein, and any number of features of different embodiments are combinable with one another, unless indicated otherwise.

Similarly, although example processes have been described with regard to particular operations performed in a particular sequence, numerous modifications might be applied to those processes to derive numerous alternative embodiments of the present invention. For example, alternative embodiments may include processes that use fewer than all of the disclosed operations, processes that use additional operations, and processes in which the individual operations disclosed herein are combined, subdivided, rearranged, or otherwise altered.

This disclosure may include descriptions of various benefits and advantages that may be provided by various embodiments. One, some, all, or different benefits or advantages may be provided by different embodiments. In view of the wide variety of useful permutations that may be readily derived from the example embodiments described herein, this detailed description is intended to be illustrative only, and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention. What is claimed as the invention, therefore, are all implementations that come within the scope of the following claims, and all equivalents to such implementations.

Claims

1. A computer system, comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more network communication interfaces communicatively coupled to the one or more processors,

wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute instructions to cause the one or more processors to: receive, via the one or more network communication interfaces, first metadata information pertaining to a multi-media recording, the first metadata information comprising information regarding attributes describing recording circumstances of the multi-media recording and an access location of the multi-media recording; initiate transmission of at least a portion of the first metadata information to a first storage location; and categorize the multi-media recording using the first metadata information independently of the multi-media recording.

2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute instructions to cause the one or more processors to:

process the first metadata information pertaining to the multi-media recording; and

incorporate the processed first metadata information in an index containing information pertaining to additional multi-media recordings obtained from multiple distinct portable recording devices.

3. The computer system of claim 2, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute instructions to cause the one or more processors to:

receive a query request to identify potentially applicable multi-media recordings; and

utilize the index to provide a response to the query request, wherein the response to the query request comprises metadata information pertaining to one or more potentially applicable multi-media recordings or information identifying a storage location of one or more potentially applicable multi-media recordings.

4-6. (canceled)

7. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the information regarding attributes describing recording circumstances comprises information pertaining to items selected from the group consisting of: recording location, recording time, recording initiation, recording termination, recording duration, event type/tag, and a user who performed the multi-media recording.

8. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute instructions to cause the one or more processors to:

apply audit controls regarding access to and/or alteration of the first metadata information and/or the multi-media recording.

9. (canceled)

10. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute instructions to cause the one or more processors to:

receive an indication identifying one or more potentially applicable multi-media recordings, the indication responsive to a query request; and

request initiation of transmission of at least one of the one or more potentially applicable multi-media recordings from a remote storage location to a storage location accessible to the computer system.

11. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute instructions to cause the one or more processors to:

apply a data retention policy to the multi-media recording, wherein the data retention policy indicates a data retention period for the multi-media recording based on the first metadata information.

12-22. (canceled)

23. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute instructions to cause the one or more processors to:

initiate transmission of the multi-media recording to a second storage location different from the first storage location.

24. The computer system of claim 23, wherein the first storage location is a local network accessible storage location and the second storage location is a remote storage location.

25. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute instructions to cause the one or more processors to:

copy the first metadata information and/or the multi-media recording to a local storage area distinct from the first storage location.

26. The computer system of claim 1, further comprising:

a local storage area communicatively coupled to the one or more processors; and

a plug-in port communicatively coupled to the one or more processors and configured to interface with a portable recording device,

wherein the initiation of transmission of the first metadata information to the first storage location and/or initiation of transmission of the multi-media recording to a second storage location occurs automatically upon connection of a portable recording device to the plug-in port, the portable recording device storing the first metadata information and/or the multimedia recording, respectively.

27. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute instructions to cause the one or more processors to:

correlate the first metadata information with additional metadata information to produce correlated metadata information, the additional metadata information comprising information regarding attributes describing recording circumstances of one or more additional multi-media recordings.

28. The computer system of claim 27, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute instructions to cause the one or more processors to:

provide an interface to access the correlated information, wherein the interface provides information to assist in audit control of the first and additional metadata information and the first and the one or more additional multi-media recordings.

29. The computer system of claim 27, wherein the correlating of the first metadata information with the additional metadata information to produce correlated metadata information comprises correlating the first and the one or more additional multi-media recordings based on an event type associated with each of the first and the one or more multi-media recordings, respectively, a recording location of each of the first and the one or more multi-media recordings, respectively, and/or a recording time of each of the first and the one or more multi-media recordings, respectively.

30. A method comprising:

receiving at a computer system, via one or more network communication interfaces, first metadata information pertaining to a first multi-media recording, the first metadata information comprising information regarding attributes describing recording circumstances of the first multi-media recording and an access location of the first multi-media recording;

initiating transmission of at least a portion of the first metadata information to a first storage location, the first storage location comprising a storage area configured for storing at least metadata; and

categorizing the first multi-media recording using the first metadata information independently of the first multi-media recording.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

receiving a query request to identify potentially applicable multi-media recordings; and

utilizing an index to provide a response to the query request,

wherein the response to the query request comprises metadata information pertaining to one or more potentially applicable multi-media recordings or information identifying a storage location of one or more potentially applicable multi-media recordings, and

wherein the index contains metadata information pertaining to multi-media recordings obtained from one or more portable recording devices.

32. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

applying audit controls regarding access to and/or alteration of the first metadata information and/or the first multi-media recording.

33. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

receiving an indication identifying one or more potentially applicable multi-media recordings, the indication responsive to a query request; and

requesting initiation of transmission of at least one of the one or more potentially applicable multi-media recordings from a remote storage location to a storage location accessible to the computer system.

34. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

applying a data retention policy to the first multi-media recording, wherein the data retention policy indicates a data retention period for the first multi-media recording based on the first metadata information.

35. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

initiating transmission of the first multi-media recording to a second storage location different from the first storage location, the second storage location comprising a storage area configured for storing at least multi-media recordings.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the first storage location is a local network accessible storage location and the second storage location is a remote storage location.

37. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

correlating the first metadata information with additional metadata information to produce correlated metadata information, the additional metadata information comprising information regarding attributes describing recording circumstances of one or more additional multi-media recordings; and

generating an index based on the correlated metadata information, the index containing information pertaining to the first and the one or more additional multi-media recordings.