Press release: February 28^th, 2006

Mike Kavanagh, Managing Director of Media Perception Limited, claims that there are challenges ahead for the Vulnerable Witness Programme. This programme is very soon to be extended to include intimidated witnesses. This will significantly increase the number of interviews that need to be conducted. Mike Kavanagh says that this will only add to the pressure on existing operations. "There will be a knock on effect throughout the Criminal Justice System," he commented.

Media Perception's POLDIS, the Police Digital Interview System, is designed to support the Vulnerable Witness Programme and reduce the impact of this change. POLDIS is a new digital audio/visual interview recording system launched in January 2006. It places audio or video interview recordings into a central system. It supports the preparation of transcripts and reports. Finally, it enables the presentation of this material in court.

In vulnerable witness work there is a significant overlap between the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service. A single system that allows shared access to recordings and transcripts reduces costs and process time to court.

"The police services in the United Kingdom need to start looking seriously at their vulnerable witness operations. POLDIS is designed to bring significant cost savings to this expanding programme. The business case for introducing such an integrated system is now stronger then ever," concludes Mike Kavanagh.