When an officer returns from a crime scene with photos in his or her digital camera, those photos are downloaded into DIMS using this DIMS Download Station, a workstation which like the DIMS storage system is built using industry-standard components. It includes a device that can read data from several types of memory cards as well as from USB devices.
Because of how DIMS stores photos and audits access to those photos, the only single point of failure in the Anaheim Police Station's digital archive is the CF or SP card in an officer's digital camera, Conley said.
"Once the card is plugged into the reader, we now have multiple copies of the images," he said. "And once the officer exits the system, the card is erased so the officer can't keep the image. He or she can't take the image home, or sell it."
Parsons said DIMS was designed so officers can use it without training. In fact, he said, the only really complicated part is the programming needed to ensure that the images are safely stored and that access is restricted.
"What's complicated is the chain of custody," he said. "It's taken us 14 years to develop. Anybody can do this for a small agency. But for a larger agency like Anaheim, it's extremely complicated."
The big difference between Linear Systems and other integrators is in how their products work with their customers, Conley said.
"Other vendors make us change to fit their systems," he said. "DIMS is changing to fit us."
