Protecting campuses with AI video solutions

Hikvision illustrates the power of AI-driven video surveillance technologies in delivering security, safety and efficiency on campus environments, such as schools, polytechnics, universities and hospitals.

Maintaining educational environments conducive to learning requires, at a minimum, that students, teachers, administrators and visitors are kept safe and secure. It’s easier said than done, given the challenges presented by sprawling multicampus contexts.

Internationally, high-profile violence in campus environments highlight the need for improved security and safety systems, and the challenges extend beyond preventing the active shooter incidents that grab headlines. In the U.S., 79 percent of public schools recorded one or more incidents of violence, theft, or other crime, which amounted to 1.4 million crimes, or 29 crimes per 1,000 students.

Protecting campuses involves deployment of a range of security and physical hardening tools. Reducing risk requires that access to school buildings be controlled, while also preserving an ‘open’ campus atmosphere that promotes an innovative learning environment.

Schools should be an inviting place for students and families, so technology solutions aimed at restricting access should be low-profile and unobtrusive. School security should also be designed in layers, or concentric circles of protection, starting at the school’s perimeter and working inward to secure individual classrooms and other internal areas.

How technology can help

Video surveillance is a technology that is unobtrusive and can promote security beginning at the outermost boundaries of the school environment – at the perimeter and as vehicles enter the campus. Surveillance can keep a silent and constant watch on people coming and going.

New artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning technologies are increasing the real-time capabilities of video surveillance to provide early warning of a possible security threat as it enters a campus. AI and deep learning analyse the content of video feeds and provide actionable information to security personnel, including analysis of trends and real-time alarms when an event is detected.

In addition to monitoring perimeter access, video surveillance incorporating AI can also provide other benefits, such as keeping watch on a campus after hours, including weekends when extracurricular activities may be taking place. The systems can monitor traffic flow and ensure that only authorised vehicles enter designated areas.

AI-driven video surveillance cameras are the electronic eyes of any security operation. In the past, human supervision was needed to make sense of the images captured, and to assess whether certain events posed a security risk or not. With some campuses using hundreds of cameras to protect their people and assets, manual review of footage is simply impossible – potentially leaving them vulnerable to security breaches.

Illegal parking and restricted areas

Whenever a vehicle passes into a restricted area on a campus, the video system captures a vehicle image and automatically provides significant data. Automated number plate recognition (ANPR) systems identify the license numbers of cars that enter a campus parking entrance or gate, and can match the numbers to a watch list and trigger an alarm. The technology can also be used to monitor compliance with restricted areas, such as only allowing vehicles that registered for a parking pass to park in a certain lot.

Video systems with illegal parking detection can also define a zone for no parking. If a vehicle enters a no-go area, the camera can be triggered to collect evidence. Images are captured of illegally parked vehicles, and the system provides data about when and where the breach occurred, the vehicle plate number and the parking violation itself.

People counting identifies peaks

People counting cameras can be used in cafeterias and libraries to provide daily or monthly traffic reports and to better understand peak times and arrange workflow, room allocations, lighting and energy use accordingly.

Using people counting technologies, managers can more accurately predict demand over coming days, weeks and months and accurately plan future activities based on right-sized staffing and inventory.

Importantly, people counting cameras can also help to ensure crowd safety in high-traffic-flow areas, as well as ensuring that the number of people entering lecture halls, exhibition halls, and concession areas does not exceed fire and safety guidelines.

Unified solution combines various applications

Feeds from all cameras can be managed, monitored and stored in an authorised security centre, either located on campus or in a central location that combines camera feeds from multiple geographically dispersed campuses, for example.

Security staff can access surveillance data in a variety of ways, via a desktop, laptop, or mobile device. Such flexibility makes the job of security personnel easier. A campus security officer, for example, can view video on a mobile device while patrolling the campus.

Often video surveillance systems on campus are not monitored. Campus security personnel can have more pressing duties than sitting in front of a video monitor, and it can be difficult for operators to notice certain incidents that may be shown obscurely on the screen. Tedious and error-prone manual monitoring can now be replaced by more intelligent systems that provide alarms only when there is something to see.

The manual interventions needed with traditional security systems mean that teams were frequently reacting to breaches that had already happened. Artificial Intelligence changes all this by recognising potential threats before they impact company’s people or assets – allowing security teams to react immediately to neutralise any potential threat.

Emergency Alarm

The Emergency Alarm Series is also a big part of Hikvision’s education solution, with their Pole and Box Panic Alarm Station designs found across many a campus.

In the case of an emergency, an individual locates their nearest alarm column and presses the SOS button. A PTZ camera provides live video and recording, and a monitoring center can communicate with the person to confirm their situation. The monitoring center can broadcast a warning via the alarm column to deter a perpetrator, and also dispatch police to the location.

Each panic alarm station is designed with 1.3 MP HD cameras and dual network ports. They are equipped to broadcast information, sound sirens, link to surrounding cameras, and much more. They put alarm services in public hands, delivering deterrence to wouldbe-perpetrators and piece of mind to campus visitors, students and staff.

A safer learning environment

Systems to maximise campus surveillance and security include dedicated, highperformance cameras for event capture, embedded network video recorder for event recording and storage, and a centralised video management platform to unify the system.

AI and deep learning technologies automate security processes and provide useful real-time information that extends beyond video images. Deploying these technologies at the perimeter can promote better security campus-wide by preventing danger from entering the learning environment.

For more information about Hikvision’s campus security solutions, visit: https://www.hikvision.com/en/ Solutions/Education/Campus-Securityand-Protection.