ST. PETERS, Mo. -- Surveillance cameras caught a thief breaking into a fitness center in St. Charles County. He is still on the run, but maybe not for long.
That’s thanks to a new crime-solving weapon from the FBI. The upgraded technology allows police to point to things that most people might not normally notice.
It is almost like an editing software. St. Peters Police Department has been using the software to essentially edit surveillance video for the last month. Police can now take raw video, pause it, zoom in and include graphics to show people what is important and what they need to look out for.
“We can pause it and we can say, ‘OK that's one of the suspects, there's a skull mask on his head, so people aren't looking at it and asking what is it on his face,’” said Officer Melissa Doss, with the St. Peters Police Department.
"It's one of those things where somebody might say, ‘I went to school with somebody like that,' or 'I work with somebody who walks like that,’ and it may not be the person, but give us the name and let us check in to it,” said Doss.
For area business owners the updated security serves as a reminder to them to continually update their store security.
"In the last couple of months, I actually switched to cellular, where it's not tied to any particular landline, so nobody can disarm or disconnect it,” said Dennis Stone, the owner of Simple Play Toys.
St. Peters police have released three videos using their new software. While no arrests have yet been made, it said it has been getting quite a few calls and tips coming through to the department.
