Posted By: Channel 8 Eyewitness News

8@klkntv.com
       LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) _ A surge in video surveillance that's helped the Lincoln Police Department make arrests has also created a case backlog.
        Chief Jeff Bliemeister says that almost 1,200 videos were referred to the department's forensic analysts last year, a sharp jump compared to the nearly 240 videos in 2009. The unit had a backlog of nearly 290 cases as of Jan. 16.
        Bliemeister says the abundance of videos is due to an increase in businesses and homeowners with their own video surveillance systems, as well as the proliferation of cellphone video.        

        Bliemeister says analysts have been able to increasingly pull images from the videos. He says analysts helped clear 40 percent of cases with video evidence publicized on Crimestoppers. The city's overall crime clearance rate is 24 percent.