Das Kennzeichen auf der Videoaufnahme bestätigt den Verdacht der Polizei.

In this sentence, das Kennzeichen most naturally means the license plate / registration plate of a vehicle.

Although Kennzeichen can also mean a sign, mark, or distinguishing feature in other contexts, with Videoaufnahme and Polizei it strongly suggests a vehicle’s plate number.

The subject is Das Kennzeichen.

A quick way to see this:

• bestätigt is a singular verb form
• das Kennzeichen is the noun phrase in the nominative
• den Verdacht is clearly accusative, so it is the direct object

So the structure is basically:

Das Kennzeichen = subject
bestätigt = verb
den Verdacht der Polizei = object

Because the subject, das Kennzeichen, is third person singular.

The infinitive is bestätigen = to confirm.
With a singular subject, it becomes bestätigt:

• ich bestätige
• du bestätigst
• er/sie/es bestätigt

Since das Kennzeichen is grammatically es, the sentence uses bestätigt.

Because bestätigen takes a direct object in the accusative case.

The noun is:

• nominative: der Verdacht
• accusative: den Verdacht

Since Verdacht is masculine, its article changes from der to den in the accusative.

So:

• der Verdacht = the suspicion
• bestätigt den Verdacht = confirms the suspicion

Here der Polizei is a genitive phrase, meaning of the police.

So:

den Verdacht der Polizei = the suspicion of the police
In natural English, that is usually the police’s suspicion or the suspicion held by the police.

It does not mean the police are the object of suspicion.

It is genitive here.

This is a very common question because der can also be a dative article. But in this sentence, der Polizei depends on the noun Verdacht, not on the verb or a preposition.

So the meaning is:

• the suspicion of the police not
• to the police

That makes it genitive.

Because Polizei is a feminine noun, and feminine nouns in German usually do not add an extra ending in the genitive.

You mainly see the case in the article:

• nominative: die Polizei
• accusative: die Polizei
• dative: der Polizei
• genitive: der Polizei

So the noun itself stays Polizei, while the article shows the case.

In German, die Polizei is usually treated as a singular collective noun.

So even though it refers to the police as an institution or force, grammatically it behaves like a singular noun:

• Die Polizei ermittelt. = The police are investigating.
• der Verdacht der Polizei = the police’s suspicion

English and German handle this word differently, so it can feel unusual at first.

Because auf is commonly used in German for something that appears on a recording, photo, screen, or similar medium.

So:

• auf dem Foto = in/on the photo
• auf dem Video = in/on the video
• auf der Aufnahme = in/on the recording

Also, this is a location, not movement, so auf takes the dative here:

• die Videoaufnahme is feminine
• dative singular becomes der Videoaufnahme

That gives auf der Videoaufnahme.

Sometimes you may hear in with media words, but in this kind of sentence auf der Videoaufnahme is the more idiomatic choice.

German often uses auf when something is visible or audible on a medium:

• auf dem Bild
• auf dem Bildschirm
• auf der Aufnahme

Using in der Videoaufnahme is not always impossible, but it usually sounds less natural here.

Most naturally, it describes Kennzeichen:

Das Kennzeichen auf der Videoaufnahme
= the license plate visible on the video recording

So the idea is that the plate seen in the footage is what confirms the suspicion.

In practice, a listener will understand the sentence that way unless context suggests otherwise.

No. Here it means the police have the suspicion.

So:

• der Verdacht der Polizei = the police’s suspicion

If you wanted to say that someone suspects the police, German would use a different structure, for example:

• der Verdacht gegen die Polizei = suspicion against the police

So the sentence does not mean the police are under suspicion.

Yes. German word order is flexible, as long as the verb stays in the correct position in a main clause.

For example, you could also say:

Den Verdacht der Polizei bestätigt das Kennzeichen auf der Videoaufnahme.

That version emphasizes den Verdacht der Polizei more strongly.

But the original sentence is a very natural, neutral order:

• subject first
• verb second
• object after the verb

Because German normally shows possession or this kind of relationship with the genitive case, not with an apostrophe.

So English says:

• the police’s suspicion

German says:

• der Verdacht der Polizei

No apostrophe is needed. The relationship is shown by the article and case ending instead.