Investigations & evidence · dashcams and body-worn video
Dashcam and bodycam clips end arguments — provided the file still opens and reaches the police or a claims handler while it can still be used. We recover deleted and corrupted recordings from SD cards and camera units, then package them so the right people can rely on them.
A quiet word, in confidence
0800 6890668
| What's wrong | What it usually means | Step one |
|---|---|---|
| Footage deleted off the SD card | Standard flash deletion; recoverable until new video lands on top | Pull the card out now |
| The dashcam kept recording after the incident | Its loop is burying the clip, same as CCTV does | Power the camera down |
| The file is corrupt and won't play | An interrupted write or a tired card — usually mendable | Don't record onto that card again |
| Locked event files stuck in the camera | The maker's own format keeping the clips captive | Extracted and converted here |
| A bodycam that's dead or smashed | Its storage chip usually outlives the casing | We image the memory and pull the clips |
| Police or insurer need it in proper order | Native files, an MP4, and the paperwork | Standard with every job |
Your device is logged under its own case number the day it arrives. An engineer finds the fault, tells you plainly what stands a real chance of coming back, and writes you one fixed quote. Nothing is charged for that look, nothing obliges you, and paid work starts only when you say so.
First move on the bench: a full copy of the card or camera memory. Locked event clips get opened from that image, and your originals stay exactly as they came in.
Deleted clips are carved from the image; corrupt ones are rebuilt so they play. SD cards are ordinary flash underneath, so the odds stay good if the card stops being used quickly.
Offence footage goes to Devon & Cornwall Police via Operation Snap — within days, because the 14-day notice rule waits for nobody. For insurance work you get the same bundle as our CCTV jobs: original files, an MP4, hash values, a short method note.
Before any fee falls due you see a full listing of everything recovered and approve it. Your files travel back on brand-new media, return postage on us, and the case stays open until you've confirmed everything opens on your own machine.
The deadline that shapes everything: a notice of intended prosecution has to reach the vehicle's registered keeper inside 14 days of an offence — the reason every force, Devon & Cornwall included, asks for dashcam evidence within days and publishes its own cut-off. Recover a clip on day twelve and it can still do its job; surface it on day twenty and it rarely gets the chance.
A cab camera's record of a depot collision vanished overnight. An image of the card showed deletion rather than overwriting. Within the week the clip was back, repaired and delivered with hashes — answering the HR question along with the insurance claim.
Generally yes, provided it's genuine and relevant. What carries authenticity is the original file, metadata left alone, and a clean record of who handled it and when.
Upload it to Devon & Cornwall Police via Operation Snap, the national dashcam portal. Keep the offending vehicle's registration, be prepared to give a signed statement, and don't delay — police have only 14 days from the offence to issue a notice of intended prosecution.
More often than not. A dashcam's card is standard flash: a deleted clip stays put until looping or fresh recording overwrites it. Pull the card, keep the camera off, and the chances hold up well.
Because they capture personal data, UK GDPR applies — so: signage wherever it's practical, a lawful basis for recording, retention kept short, storage kept secure. Evidentially, handle clips like CCTV — originals preserved, copies hashed.
Recorders overwrite on a loop, evidence weakens, time limits pass. Open a case early — the first look is free and confidential.