How many cameras do you think you pass in a given day? If you live in Washington DC, this number will likely be larger than you’d assume. Depending on your preferred measurement, The District is either the most surveilled or second most surveilled city in America. Modern surveillance architecture can spark fascinating conversations about personal privacy and its actual effectiveness as a public safety and crime prevention tool. But it’s also changed the face of civil law. Video of a given incident provides a degree of objectivity that even the most reliable witness testimony can’t hope to match. Thanks to growing CCTV camera infrastructure and the prevalence of camera-equipped smartphones, this video has never been easier to come by. Today’s Malloy Law blog post will discuss and examine the role of video evidence in your personal injury case.
According to research compiled by Comparitech, DC has 35,082 cameras. This works out to roughly 55.5 cameras per thousand residents, or a staggering 573.8 cameras per square mile. Atlanta is the only US city that can boast more cameras per 1000 residents and DC’s tally does not even count the extensive network of over 20,000 cameras employed by the WMATA metro rail network, nor does it count privately owned and operated security cameras in businesses and residential buildings. Based on its surveillance coverage per square mile, DC would be the third most surveilled city on the planet, well ahead of Singapore (387.88) and only just behind Seoul (618.45). Atlanta and San Francisco would also rank in the top five by this metric.
In ideal circumstances, video evidence supporting your personal injury claim is already in your possession. Devices like dashboard cameras, GoPro cameras, and the aforementioned cellphones all have the capability to capture real time firsthand perspectives of a given incident. These devices have almost certainly provided invaluable evidence in criminal and civil cases alike.
However, in the majority of cases, the recording of your incident will be captured on an external camera owned, operated, and maintained by a different party. So how do you go about obtaining this video? The process can be broken down into a few simple steps.
The first and most obvious potential complication posed by video evidence is that it may contradict your own personal recollection of the event. As difficult to understand as it may be, the human perspective is inherently fallible and prone to distortion. This is especially true as more time passes from the incident. In high stress situations such as a vehicular accident or injurious fall, the combination of heightened emotions and physical pain can twist our perception. Video which does not line up entirely with an injured person’s own testimony is not necessarily detrimental to their case, but it may be.
For another example, especially in the case of a premises liability or “slip and fall” lawsuit occurring on private property, the property owner may resist efforts to claim video of the accident for fear that it will prove incriminating. In these instances, experienced and effective legal representation can be of the utmost importance.
If you or a loved one is struggling to obtain video evidence demonstrating how another party’s negligence led to their injury, don’t go it alone. Malloy Law Offices is home to the region’s personal injury specialists. Our experienced and talented legal team has fought and won cases all over DC, Maryland, and Virginia. We are standing by 24/7 to assess your case free of charge and craft a plan of attack to win maximum compensation on your behalf. Don’t wait, contact Malloy Law today, and let’s win your case.