When two clocks tell different stories

A supervisor reviewing an incident received a witness note and a short recording from a corridor camera. The witness estimated that the event had occurred at about 10:15. The camera display appeared to show 10:18. An early draft report treated the difference as evidence that the witness’s account was unreliable. Before approving that wording, the supervisor asked whether anyone had checked the camera clock. The technical team later confirmed that it was running three minutes fast at the time of the recording.

That finding did not automatically establish every detail of the witness’s account. It did show why the two times could not be compared without examining their sources. The witness had estimated a time from memory, while the display recorded the camera’s own clock. The report was revised to keep both original references and explain the confirmed offset. Staff were asked not to silently replace the displayed time, since a later reader might otherwise be unable to understand how the sequence had been reconstructed.

The supervisor also removed a sentence claiming that one person had deliberately ignored an instruction. The recording showed movement away from the desk, but it did not establish what the person had heard or intended. A neutral description could record the movement and identify the unanswered question without inventing a motive. If further evidence confirmed a breach, that evidence would need to be reported clearly; cautious language was not a reason to hide a fact that had actually been established.

For follow-up, the technical team was asked to confirm whether other relevant recordings used the same clock setting. A second colleague checked that every time in the revised sequence identified its source. The aim was not to make the account sound less serious. It was to make each statement traceable, distinguish observation from interpretation and preserve enough context for someone else to assess the evidence. A clear record could acknowledge uncertainty while still assigning a specific next action and deadline.