SURVEILLANCE
New CCTV analytics will make looters think twice Labour discontent, taxi strikes, protests, xenophobia – the incidences of general unrest across South Africa are rising and, while some are peaceful, the numbers that are escalating to violence and looting are alarming. In these chaotic scenes, criminals take advantage. Intelligent, analyticsenabled CCTV systems can make all the difference when it comes to identifying them, getting justice and claiming from insurance. By Vukosi Mhlongo, sales manager, Fire and Security at Johnson Controls Africa
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outh Africa has in the past few months seen several violent protests in which people have been hurt and property has been looted and vandalised. The personal and business cost in terms of recovery is high and identifying those involved has been a nightmare for the SAPS officials. It’s therefore time for South Africans to take proactive measures to deter troublemakers and bring them to book. Here, CCTV solutions with video analytics and facial biometrics offer a smart, affordable way to add a layer of protection to business premises, helping to deter criminals and make sure they can be identified and held accountable.
Why CCTV? CCTV systems have evolved considerably over the last decade – they have become more intelligent, with sophisticated, automated controls. The cost of both the IP cameras and of data storage have dropped, making these devices accessible to businesses of all sizes. In addition, digital recordings of events can be stored on a server on premise or in the cloud (where recordings cannot be physically destroyed).
But, how smart are they? Digital CCTV recordings can be activated by movement in a defined area using intelligent motion detection or can be set to record at specific times.
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SECURITY FOCUS AFRICA JANUARY 2020
Used in conjunction with security and event troublemakers, known offenders, VIPs or management systems, they can also issue even ex-employees. alerts when key events occur – for example, If such a person is identified by the CCTV sending a notification to the business system (e.g. upon walking into the store) a owner when there is a loud impact such notification is sent to the relevant authority, as broken glass windows, or if key assets usually the business owner, who can are removed. take action. Importantly, these systems can CCTV recording can also be run against now also use analytics in real time to such databases thus allowing SAPS, for identify criminals against a database of example, to identify looters or to assist known perpetrators. insurers to process a claim. It is important for businesses to look for Analytics – key to take action CCTV solutions that have valuable built-in Modern video surveillance goes analytics due to the fact that this eliminates beyond the traditional recording costs. Moreover, a solution is required of events. It can apply analytics that can store images of thousands of to real time and recorded individuals for the highest possible accuracy footage to identify suspicious people and in identification. potentially dangerous events and patterns With crime rates in South Africa at an of behaviour. all-time high, it’s important to take every Facial analytics allow CCTV solutions to reasonable measure to protect people and detect and recognise faces from a database assets. Smart digital technologies can help with at least 98 per cent accuracy, matching us do that. multiple points on a face against images CCTV systems with analytics capabilities stored in a database. can be used in cities, townships and For example, images of people within industrial areas to deter troublemakers the camera range are captured and and enforce law and order. It’s a layer constantly compared to a database of of protection business owners should images of people of interest, for example definitely explore.
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