Guidance for Businesses
On 21 September 2022 Kent and Essex Police launched a new Digital Asset Management System (DAMS).

DAMS is a single system for both forces to receive, store, manage and share digital assets in relation to both crime and non-crime matters, including CCTV, doorbell footage, mobile phone footage and many more.

What does this mean for businesses?
When local businesses use DAMS to provide digital evidence to Kent and Essex Police, there are several benefits:

• More efficient processes for submitting digital evidence to the police.
• The prompt submission of digital evidence leads to earlier investigation outcomes.
• Reduces the requirement to provide digital evidence on a disc or USB.
• Improved security of the digital evidence provided to the police via a full auditable, secure cloud-based system.

How can businesses submit digital evidence to the police using DAMS?

• Report a crime or incident to the police as per normal processes (999/101/via website)
• An officer will then contact you to determine if you have any digital evidence, such as CCTV.
• The officer will send you an email or text containing a link for you to upload the digital evidence directly to DAMS.
• Once you have uploaded your evidence to DAMS the officer will get an automatic notification via email, where they can then immediately access and view the evidence.
• At the point of upload to DAMS, the police will become the data controller of the footage and will have responsibility to manage the evidence in accordance with data protection legislation.