The eight tips for law enforcement agencies considering video surveillance include: (1) proven expertise--use of modern-day intelligent surveillance systems that employ content analytics to automate threat detection; (2) tight integration--select a solution that offers tight integration between content analytics and video recording for immediate human visual verification; (3) automate the response--pick a solution that can scale automatically, reduce video bandwidth, and stream video onto handheld devices; (4) open solutions--select a video surveillance solution that is based on an open system; a system built from standard off-the-shelf computer components, rather than proprietary hardware; (5) encoder redundancy--the encoder is a mission-critical component of the video surveillance system, so it is necessary to invest in a solution with built-in-encoder redundancy; (6) seamless migration--look for a system that accommodates both analog and integrating peripheral (IP) cameras to maintain current infrastructure while having a path to migrate without doing a major overhaul; (7) navigate the requirements--the video surveillance solution provider needs to deliver a solution that is tested and proven for the environment needed; and (8) from detection to prosecution--content analytics employed to detect threats can be applied to the investigative process as well, such as a multimedia incident information management solution. The best advice is to approach video surveillance as a building block to a larger holistic solution, boosting efficiency and effectiveness from detection to prosecution.