Video evidence has become a vital part of effective police work. But this evidence is only as good as the technology used to store it, and the chain of custody that this equipment supports. If that technology falls short in any way, police work suffers, as does the level of successful prosecutions and community safety in general.
Kustom Signals’ Argus Data Vault (ADV) is here to address both needs. ADV is a video evidence file management platform that combines the power of an easy-to-use back office system with smart fleet management tools that offer an extra layer of support for officers in the field.
ADV achieves these goals by managing and storing the video evidence captured by Argus Body Worn Cameras (BWCs) and Argus In-Car Video (ICV) systems. Argus BWCs can be activated manually or automatically when the unit detects common spoken phrases, ensuring critical moments are recorded. Argus ICV systems capture high-definition video from both inside and outside the vehicle. ADV ensures this footage is securely stored, organized and accessible when it matters most.
That’s not all. Argus Data Vault enhances officer safety by enabling livestreaming from every body-worn and in-car camera in use. It can also geolocate officers based on their devices and provide AI-powered alerts when an officer unholsters a weapon, falls, or begins running.
Available in either cloud-based or on-premises versions, ADV also supports easy searchability and sharing of video evidence once it has been uploaded — streamlining collaboration between law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and other authorized investigatory partners — and offers one-touch facial redaction. This feature allows video evidence to be processed more quickly in-house, without the need for external services or spending precious hours manually processing video files.
“Argus Data Vault is really the brains of Kustom Signals’ video management system,” said Harry Spencer, the company’s Technical Sales Engineer. “It brings everything together, is extremely accessible, and makes it easy for the department to manage all aspects of their video-based operations, from video capture and livestreaming to secure chain-of-custody storage, and accurate records of everyone who accesses this video and uses it in any way.”
The power of AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming how law enforcement agencies operate, and AI is certainly central to making ADV do more for officers. “For instance, AI plays a key role in powering our alerts and tracking officer’s geolocations in real time,” Spencer said. “It also helps their Argus BWC devices turn themselves on using pre-recorded phrases that have been trained using artificial intelligence, and it helps our equipment to work together more efficiently. Our AI can also choose between the four microphones being used in each BWC, in order to capture the best quality sound.”
Easy to configure
Every law enforcement agency has their own way of doing things, from the paint schemes for their cars to the design of the information technology systems. This is why Kustom Signals has designed its ADV software platform to be easy to configure and customize.
ADV is easy to learn and use, thanks to its intuitive interface. For officers, this means being able to find what they need whenever they access their departmental ADV. For its administrators, this means fast, straightforward access to rulemaking processes, such as specifying which users are authorized to access, edit and redact specific videos, and under what conditions.
“During a typical ADV installation, I sit down with the department’s administrators and walk through the process,” said Spencer. “Since change permissions and other qualifications are all managed by dropdown menus, they pick up on the process very quickly.”
An end-to-end solution to video management
While video evidence is increasingly common in law enforcement, many departments continue to face challenges integrating it into daily operations.
Kustom Signals helps agencies overcome this hurdle with a unified solution. By combining Argus Data Vault with Argus BWCs and Argus ICVs, departments gain an end-to-end system that manages video from capture to courtroom. There’s no need to juggle incompatible body-worn, in-car, and evidence management systems — the Argus platform is built to work seamlessly across all components. And when agencies streamline their video workflows, they can redirect valuable time and resources to other critical priorities.
“Kustom Signals is here to make video evidence management much easier for law enforcement agencies,” Spencer said. “Our goal is to help police officers do their jobs better with less effort and stress, while helping to keep them safe in the field 24/7.”
Want to see how Argus can help your department manage video and protect officers 24/7? Explore Kustom Signals’ Argus Data Vault.
