The VIPER Volunteer Database consists of over 27,000 moving images which are utilised by the Police in video identification parades everyday.
To initiate a parade an Identification Officer uses the database to search for volunteers who have a similar appearance to a suspect. A number of these images are then chosen to appear alongside the suspect in an identification parade.
To obtain volunteer images, a dedicated team travel around the UK undertaking mobile recording sessions. Each volunteer is recorded performing a simple head turn. A one-off cash payment is received by each volunteer upon successful completion of the recording.
By continually recording new volunteer images, the database is kept up to date with changes in fashion trends and demographics. This ensures appearances of people throughout the UK are represented on the database and fair video identification parades can be produced.
Without people volunteering to be included on the database this would not be possible. By volunteering you may be assisting to bring criminals to justice or help an innocent person be eliminated from Police enquiries.
