Forensic applications of signal processing

This article highlights some problems encountered by forensic signal processing experts in the area of speech and video processing. We have demonstrated that there is a need for speech, video, and other signal processing experts within the IEEE community to work together to provide standardized guidelines to court systems around the world to assist them in dealing with this complex form of evidence. We also need to develop and provide law enforcement agencies with supplemental tools to assist them to improve the quality of speech and video evidence gathered for the court. In particular, quantitative measures need to be developed to allow law enforcement agents to determine during the investigation whether speech and video material is above or below a standard expected of court evidence.