BWC Suite
by the Rollins and Chan Law Firm, Washington, DC
BWC Suite is free software for defense lawyers working with body worn camera footage. Drop the videos or an entire discovery folder into the window, press Start, and get an audio copy of every recording, a transcript with officer and camera identification, and subtitles that VLC shows right over the footage, plus a master Recording Index summarizing the batch. Built for defense practice, provided at no charge.
Your footage never leaves your computer. Once the speech model has been downloaded the first time, everything runs offline. Videos, audio, and transcripts stay on your machine, which is how it should be for discovery material.
What it does
- Handles footage as produced in discovery. Works with body camera video from Axon, WatchGuard, Motorola, and other systems (.mp4, .mov, .avi, .mkv and more). Encrypted files that only play in a vendor’s proprietary player must be produced in a standard format first.
- Drop files or folders. Drag individual videos or a whole discovery folder onto the window. A queue table shows every recording with live status.
- Officer and camera identification. Tag each recording with the officer’s name or body camera ID. Axon-style camera serials are detected from file names automatically, and you can tag one recording or fifty at once. The tag appears in every transcript and in the Recording Index, so when three officers were on scene you know whose footage says what.
- Watch with the transcript on screen. Subtitles (.srt) are placed next to the original video, so playing it in VLC shows the words over the footage. An optional playlist opens the whole batch in order, and an Open in VLC button plays any recording directly.
- Audio copies. Save each video’s audio as a standalone WAV or MP3 you can listen to anywhere, or an exact copy of the original audio. Optionally save a muted copy of each video.
- Recording Overview on every transcript. Officer/camera, recording date and time parsed from the file name, duration, line and word counts, frequent terms, and the opening line, plus a timestamped transcript body.
- Master Recording Index and resume support. One index file summarizes the batch, and already-processed recordings are skipped on a rerun.
Download
No installation required. Download, double-click, and it runs. Windows 10 or 11 only for now; Mac users, email me if there is interest.
A note on the Windows warning
The first time you open the program, Windows may show a blue screen that says “Windows protected your PC” and lists the publisher as unknown. This is normal and expected. Windows shows that message for any program that has not been signed with a paid publisher certificate, which includes most free software written by small firms and solo developers. It is not a warning that anything is wrong with the file.
To open the program: click More info, then click Run anyway. You only have to do this once. Windows remembers the file after that.
Getting started
- Drop your body camera videos or a folder of footage onto the window, or use Add Files / Add Folder. Turn on Include Subfolders for nested discovery folders.
- Select recordings and click Set Officer / Camera ID to tag them, or fill in the default field for the whole batch.
- Choose your outputs: audio copy format, transcription accuracy, subtitles, playlist.
- Press Start. Output goes to a BWC Output folder next to each video, or a folder you choose, ending with a “_Recording_Index.txt” for the batch.
First run
The first transcription downloads the speech recognition model, which requires an internet connection once. After that, everything runs on your computer with no data sent anywhere. VLC is optional but recommended, free at videolan.org.
System requirements and disclaimer
Windows 10 or 11. No installation required. The software is provided free of charge, as-is and without warranty; nothing about it is legal advice, and using it does not create an attorney-client relationship with the Rollins and Chan Law Firm.
Transcripts are generated by automated speech recognition. Body camera audio often includes wind, radio traffic, and crosstalk; verify against the recording before quoting in any filing or examination.
Questions and suggestions from fellow attorneys are welcome: Mark Rollins, mark@rollinsandchan.com or 202-455-5610.