Appointments News
SAFR appoints Eric Hess as senior director of product management

SAFR from RealNetworks Inc. announced the appointment of Eric Hess as senior director of product management. In this new position, Hess will lead the product strategy and will be responsible for expanding and accelerating the core SAFR application globally, with a particular emphasis on the public safety and gaming markets.

Eric Hess, senior director of product management, SAFR.

According to SAFR, Hess is a well-known expert in the use of video analytics and facial recognition technologies for expedient resolution of criminal investigations, surveillance, loss prevention and identity solutions. Prior to joining SAFR, Hess served as the senior director of video analytics for IDEMIA, a provider of biometric solutions. He also held senior sales and product management positions at MorphoTrak and NEC’s Global Center of Excellence for Face Recognition. Hess is also a former Port of Seattle police officer.

“We are very pleased to welcome Eric to the SAFR team,” said Dan Grimm, vice-president and general manager of computer vision at RealNetworks in a statement. “He brings a unique mix of operational experience, technical background and business acumen.”

“I am excited to join SAFR at a time when computer vision solutions are truly gaining momentum,” Hess said in a statement. “Facial recognition can be a force for good and can be applied to help make life safer and more convenient,” he added.

Hess has been a speaker at numerous law enforcement and industry events, including INTERPOL, the Law Enforcement Video Association International (LEVA), the International Association for Identification (IAI), King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and, most recently, at the U.S. Secret Service’s Electronic Crimes Task Force in Oakland, Calif.