CCTV Image 38 April 2010 by Chris Sparks

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE C CTV USER GROUP April 2010

www.cctvusergroup.com

‘Fraid not…

The Prime Minister may be talking it up but is the future of CCTV secure?

Bexley tries a radical solution – outsourcing The London Borough of Bexley has signed a contract with Siemens to build and run its CCTV control room.

Digital storage options When building your digital CCTV system, storage might be one of the most important decisions you make.

Also in this issue • Good news from the CCTV frontline • Case studies: Brecklands, Glasgow and schools • And more...

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Table of Contents

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April 2010

Editor-in-Chief: Peter Fry CCTV User Group Tel. +44(0)1202-707552 Fax +44(0)1202-701732 peter@cctvusergroup.com To join the CCTV User Group, please contact the Group on the number above.

No. 38

Editor: Tom Reeve Tel. +44(0)20-8255 5007 tom.reeve@cctvimage.com Please email press releases and articles to the editor or mail them to: CCTV Image, PO Box 795A, Surbiton, KT5 8YB United Kingdom Director of Media: Peter Mawson Tel. +44(0)1543-250456 Mob. +44(0)7841-693979 Peter.Mawson@ securitymediapublishing.com Key accounts: Jack Lunn Jack.Lunn@ securitymediapublishing.com Tel. +44(0)1543-250734 Sales consultant: Nick Sutton Nick.Sutton@ securitymediapublishing.com Tel. +44(0)1543-250592 Administration assistants: Anne Reeves Anita Olive smpadmin@ securitymediapublishing.com For a copy of our media pack, please contact the administrator. Administrative correspondence: Security Media Publishing Ltd PO Box 5231, Lichﬁeld WS14 4EB United Kingdom CCTV Image is published six times a year on behalf of the CCTV User Group by Security Media Publishing Ltd. Members of the CCTV User Group receive it free of charge. Subscriptions: If you don’t receive a regular copy of CCTV Image, you can subscribe by sending a cheque made payable to “Security Media Publishing Ltd” to the administrative ofﬁce. Annual subscription rates: UK – £25; Europe – £35; Rest of world – £45 The CCTV User Group does not endorse any product or service advertised or mentioned in this publication. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the content, neither the CCTV User Group nor Security Media Publishing Ltd can be held liable for mis-statements or inaccuracies contained herein. © 2010 Security Media Publishing Ltd/ CCTV User Group. Printed by Synergy Print Management Ltd

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Welcome & News by Peter Fry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

News News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 CCTV seminar: Motorola and Sony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Counter Terrorism: CCTV and surveillance workshop . . . 12

14 Breckland Council has been creating what may be the first wireless IP-based surveillance system for a council in the UK

Rooms with a View Brecklands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Excelsior Academy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Glasgow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bexley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

14 16 18 20

Cover story

18 Glasgow Community & Safety Services monitors more than 1,000 alarm and CCTV equipped premises across the city

Is CCTV hanging by a thread? . . . . . . 25

Features Digital storage options. . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Columns Guest column: Transport CCTV by Stewart Payton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Martin Gill on CCTV research . . . . . . 36 Talking Shop: Simon Lambert on the mad men . . . . . 38

20 When Bexley council decided to adopt a radical solution when they were looking at how to costeffectively upgrade their system

Plus Industry news . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Directory of companies . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Cover: Simon Lambert

April 2010

28 Video storage: you expect your data to be safe, but circumstances and system design can conspire against you

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CCTVImage

| Welcome and News

Welcome and News

Interim CCTV Regulator - Independent Advisory Group Peter Fry, respect of the Strategy as two of the main Director, work horses in the NPIA team, Steve Foote CCTV in and Mick Harrison, both of whom had, over CCTV User the years, earned the respect and support of Borough Group FIRST THE good news. After just 5 years since DCC Graeme Gerrard recognised the need for a National CCTV Strategy, and took the initiative of submitting a report to the Home Office, at last Graeme, the Home Office and the new Interim CCTV Regulator have recognised that the current format of the Strategy Board needed major revision and streamlining. To support the Board and the regulator, an Independent Advisory Group has now been formed and I am very pleased to say the role and the expertise the CCTV User Group Members can contribute to the National CCTV Strategy, has now been recognised with the inclusion of the User Group in the core advisory group. This approach is to be welcomed and I must say long overdue to my mind, and we look forward to providing as much assistance to the regulator and the board as we are able to contribute. However there is also some bad news in

7-9 TH J UNE

CCTV Managers throughout the country for their knowledge, expertise and commitment to public space CCTV surveillance, have moved on from the team with Mick now taking up the role of CCTV Liaison Officer for Kent Police. We obviously wish them all the best for the future and hope they will keep in touch.

Under the cosh

As I am writing this the Prime minister is singing the praises of CCTV on the TV, and intends making CCTV a major election issue, including giving powers to local residents to insist LA’s install more cameras, and asking Local authorities to protect Police funding! However at the same time a BBC news survey indicates that around 25,000 jobs in Councils are under threat with one expert believing the job losses could reach 100,000! As usual in Local Government it will be the discretionary services that bear the brunt of any savings rather than those which they have a statutory duty to perform. Of course the provision and operation of Public Space CCTV, no matter how much the public support it and that does make it a political football for the election, is a discretionary service.

Later in this issue is a fascinating in depth article on, what I believe to be, an absolutely unique way (as far as town/city centre CCTV systems) in which a Local Authority, when faced with an aging CCTV system, has approached the task of providing a state of the art CCTV Control Room, updating the equipment. It has minimised the financial implications of this, by ‘outsourcing’ the provision, management and operation of the whole system. There never was any suggestion the CCTV system would be shut down - it achieves so much and receives much public support - but ‘Value for money’ was a fundamental issue, and they were keen to outsource to get the best deal. Bexley were impressed by the tender submitted by Siemens who came up with some attractive ideas, including generating income that is shared Siemens and the Council, by providing monitoring services to other organisations. A unique and very innovative solution, so please read Tom’s article – is this the way forward for the future? The Bexley system, although approaching ‘old age’, was extremely effective, and part of the criteria for

Cont’d next page

CCTV User Group 2010 Conference, Cotswold Water Park Hotel Other presentations will cover the CrimeVis research project we are involved in with Loughborough University and Visimetrics to develop the capability of annotating CCTV footage from a variety of recording methods. This will facilitate the fast searching of the images under a variety of categories including optical character recognition, logo recognition, colour, movement for people and vehicles etc. In the last issue I also mentioned an online data protection compliance assessment system our members will be working on with others. Work on this is starting shortly and the presentation at the conference will update delegates on the purposes behind this and how it should improve the quality of CCTV systems and their images particularly in the lower end CCTV primarily used by small businesses. As usual we will also be having case studies of new initiatives so, one of which will be the unique approach by Bexley Council in totally outsourcing the provision of a new state of the art control room and subsequent management and operation of the system. Please see the article later in this issue. But if anyone has an interesting project they think other members could learn from please let me know at Peter@cctvusergroup.com. The Cotswold Water Park location in early summer (rather than the rains of winter), provides an opportunity to make the conference experience slightly different! We are planning a barbeque beside the lake on the Monday evening and the opportunity to have an extended break with wives, husbands and partners the weekend before at specially negotiated rates, more details later.

PREPARATIONS FOR this conference – at delegates request the only one we are intending to hold in 2010 – are well advanced, and as promised we are holding the delegate fees at the April ’08 level to try and ensure as many members as possible can benefit from the conference. The Speakers list is not yet complete because, as usual, we want presentations on topical issues, but hope to circulate the conference flyer early in April. However, to give you a taster of the likely content, Andrew Rennison, the Interim CCTV Regulator, has kindly agreed to present the keynote address.

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the London of Bexley

April 2010

Welcome and News success is maintaining, or improving on the key performance indicators. We wish Siemens and Bexley our best wishes for the 10 year contract and will be reporting in the future as to how the project is developing.

User Group awards

At the conference we will also be presenting the awards to the Operator Teams of the Year and the Management and Innovation Awards and so I would welcome nominations to be received before 1st May 2010. The nomination process for Operator Teams of the Year is not too onerous as there are no specific forms to fill in. What we want is for managers to put in their own words by email or snail mail the reasons why they believe their operators deserve the award and demonstrate this by statistics or commendations by third parties. The nominations for management and innovation awards to a manager and the authority are usually made by someone other than the actual manager. Perhaps you have been deeply impressed by the work of a colleague manager, or his innovative approach to developing his system. Perhaps you have read something in CCTV Image or heard on the grapevine a system and approach where you thought that’s a great idea! Or perhaps you are a Police Officer deeply impressed by the management of a specific system.

CCTV

SAVED

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Just let me know and explain why the person should receive this User Group accolade. But please don’t be shy, we want to recognise excellence be it managers or operators.

Operators’ group

Continuing the theme of the critical importance of Operators to the success of any CCTV system in the last issue we have responded to the Security Industry Authority interest in having an organisation able to represent CCTV Operators in their work in relation to licensing and training. A presentation to the SIA by Kevin White of London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham proposed the CCTV User Group as the ideal group to facilitate it. So the User Group has taken the first steps in setting up such an organisation which will be called the Control Room Operators’ Group. Whilst the organisation will primarily centre on CCTV Operators we are very conscious of the number of multi-functional control rooms that exist combining CCTV with building alarm response, Careline and vulnerable people alarms, and a wide variety of other functions. We believe such an organisation should

be inclusive rather than exclusive. It will operate as an entirely new subgroup of the CCTV User Group with its own discussion and networking forum with no access to the other CCTV Managers’ discussion forums or facilities. Membership will mainly be on an individual basis rather than an organisation membership (although that might be possible if specific organisations wish) as we are conscious that few LA’s would be prepared particularly at this time to fund operators membership. Subscriptions will be affordable for operators and for the first year at least we are envisaging a three monthly membership of £15 +VAT so they can try the group and renew only if they feel it is providing good value for money or annual membership of £50 with payment by credit card online. As it is a new initiative, In either case the first month will be complimentary, to give operators the opportunity ‘to try before they buy’. I must stress that these operators forums will be properly moderated to ensure they are not abused and only deal with professional issues and training, rather than concerns about their working conditions or how the system is operated.

Cameras in Worcester to be monitored in Wychavon

IN PREVIOUS ISSUES we have heard of some CCTV systems that have been under threat, but in some cases innovative and positive solutions have been found. In a previous issue we reported that a major city system was threatened with closure, due to the funding crisis. I am pleased to say however that Worcester took an innovative approach and the Council agreed monitoring of Worcester’s CCTV cameras is likely to continue following a proposal between the Worcester City Council, South Worcestershire Police and Wychavon District Council. Under the new proposals the city’s on-street cameras would be monitored by Wychavon at their control room in Pershore – which is already used to monitor cameras in their three towns. If agreed the arrangement would start in autumn 2010. The proposals aim to: • Meet both councils’ need for reduced costs. • Meet both councils’ CCTV requirements for community safety. • Meet South Worcestershire Police’s CCTV needs. “I hope this announcement demonstrates that the Council is committed to ensuring Worcester remains a safe city and that by working together, we believe it is possible to achieve what many people where sceptical could be done – monitored CCTV at a lower cost to the Council. Hopefully, if successful, this proposal also enables the

business to grow by adding future partners which will either increase camera coverage or reduce costs further”. Ch. Supt. Jane Horwood, South Worcestershire Police Divisional Commander, said: “Monitored CCTV in Worcester has remained at the top of our ‘must have’ list for a number of years and I am delighted that a perceived threat to it continuing has disappeared. “This has been achieved through the positive determination of all concerned in the negotiations to achieve necessary budgetary reductions while maintaining an essential service that plays a key role in the successful policing of the ‘Faithful City’. “The benefits of monitored CCTV cannot always be measured, particularly in terms of its role as a deterrent to potential wrong-doers. But add that unknown quantity to the consistent contribution it makes in terms of solving crimes and tackling anti-social behaviour and it remains a vital tool for the police.” Cllr. Paul Middlebrough, Leader of Wychavon said “Working together with other organisations for the benefit of residents and businesses is at the heart of our strategies. This arrangement presents an opportunity which, when agreed with Worcester City and West Mercia Police, will secure the future of a first class monitoring operation throughout our CCTV networks.”

April 2010

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CCTV operators help solve ATM scam in Kent

Surveillance and the limits of law enforcement

TWO CCTV OPERATORS in Kent are in line for police commendations after helping police catch ATM fraudsters in the act. The two operators – employed by Remploy CCTV and known as Rick and Max – were working an evening shift on 16th October 2009, said Darrin Colfer, area operations manager for Remploy CCTV. “After a recent spate of devices being fitted to ATMs to skim off customers’ bank details... all my CCTV operators at Tunbridge Wells were asked to be extra vigilant and to monitor ATMs where possible,” he said. Rick noticed a man acting suspiciously near an ATM at Barclays Bank in Tonbridge High Street. The man kept looking up at the camera which rang alarm bells with Rick. “The male then met up with another Male and Female who were also acting very suspiciously,” Colfer said. “Rick continued to monitor the group and eventually he observed the original male remove a device from the ATM.” While Rick monitored the group, Max contacted the West Kent Police who dispatched police units to the scene. Meanwhile, the suspects were preparing to leave in their car. Rick was able to monitor them as they drove around the area and directed police to their location. The occupants were detained and arrested. Items found in possession of the group included mobile phone cameras painted in ATM colours, plastic devices made to look like card

IS THE LOSS OF LIBERTY the price we pay for freedom? How much information is being held on UK citizens? What is it being used for? Is trust in public bodies being eroded by the excessive collection and possible mismanagement of data? On an issue in which suspicion is rife, this conference – the Cumberland Lodge Police Conference – promises to present the hard facts about our increasingly watched society. Speakers at the conference will include Sir Norman Bettison, chief constable of West Yorkshire Police, Sir Michael Bichard, director of the Institute of Government, Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, Professor Martin Gill of the University of Leicester and Paul West, Chief Constable of West Mercia Police. Chief Constable West said, “This three-day conference will cover many aspects of surveillance in our society and particularly how it impacts and interacts with law enforcement… This conference will aim to offer a balanced view of surveillance in modern Britain, raise awareness of the debate around the ethics of its use and encourage us all to reflect on the benefits, and potential problems, it creates. For those who actually provide the technology, the conference is an excellent opportunity to see how that technology is used by law enforcement agencies, and to add their own voice to the debate”. CCTV Image will produce a report on this conference for a future edition of the magazine. • More info at www.cumberlandlodge.ac.uk

NEWS

slots, glue and double sided sticky tape. When one of the suspect’s home was searched, police discovered what was described in court as “a factory producing the equipment needed to successfully steal credit cards and record their PIN numbers”. Footage of the incident was supplied to the police as evidence. David Moldovan, 49, of East Ham was sentenced to four years in prison. Georgeta Neferu, 27, address unknown, was sentenced to twoand-a-half years and Florian Claudiu, 24, of East Ham was sentenced to two-and-a-half years. The judge commented on the good work done by the CCTV Operators. Rick and Max are in line to receive a commendation from Kent Police for their work. This would be Rick’s third commendation over the past year. “This is an excellent result which highlights the vigilance and professionalism of the Operators mentioned,” Colfer said.

IN BRIEF

• Westminster City Council has reactivated CCTV cameras used to fine drivers in central London. Switched off in Spring 2009 because the resolution did not meet Department of Transportation regulations, the cameras have been upgraded at a reported cost of £495,000. Meanwhile, software has also been upgraded at an extra cost of £330,000. One anti-CCTV group complained that the cameras were “hidden on lampposts” to which a councillor replied that the location of all the cameras was “available on our website for anyone to inspect”. • The Home Office is giving grants to small retailers to purchase security equipment including CCTV. £5 million is being allocated to 1000 retailers across England, with additional grants being given to 72 partnerships made up of groups of small businesses and local authorities to help improve neighbourhoods and reduce crime. Leytonstone in east London received £50,000 for a CCTV system covering the town centre which will include facial recognition and ANPR. • A third of households on a Kettering estate are to get personal CCTV cameras, paid for out of cash taken from criminals under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Seven hundred cameras are being handed out to householders. The cameras can be wired up to a television set, enabling householders to view the camera by changing to a certain channel and record images on a VCR. Signs will go up in neighbourhoods to warn villains, and householders are asked to install the cameras so they don’t face out into the street, for privacy reasons.

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• University of Leicester researchers claim that criminals are shifting from household burglary to personal muggings because household electronics simply aren’t worth stealing anymore. Mass production of televisions and other home electronics has driven the price of these items down. Meanwhile, people are carrying far more valuable electronics such as mobile phones, MP3 players and laptops. According to the British Crime Survey, burglary dropped 58 per cent between 1995 and 2009. • The BSIA reports that manufacturers are embracing video content analysis (VCA), with 80 per cent reporting that some of their products incorporate the technology. Approximately 25 per cent by volume of products purchased from these manufacturers contained VCA. Manufacturers and installers alike noted an increase in demand for VCA with manufacturers reporting a 4 per cent increase in the past year and installers noting a 7 per cent rise. VCA is most popular in retail and transport and is most widely deployed for intruder detection, the report said. • And finally… Town councillors in Llandovery in Wales have been left high and dry by their CCTV installer who put in a camera and recording system at a cost of £4,500 but didn’t provide any training in how to use the new system. According to press reports, the councillors were left with a training manual that was “incomprehensible”. Now they are hoping to secure a training course, although first they are going to have to decide who is responsible for the new one-camera system.

April 2010

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CCTV operator saves woman’s life in Fife AT THE END OF January 2010, Fife Police, Team 1, Cupar were on the 0600 to 1500 tour of duty. About 0635 hours, a call was received that an unidentified woman had been found lying in the street, conscious but unable to speak. Units attended and found the woman soaked through and incoherent. They were unable to ascertain an identity for the woman, who when examined by ambulance was found to be seriously ill with suspected hypothermia. It was

unknown at the time what had taken place or whether a crime had occurred. The CCTV operator on duty at the camera unit at headquarters heard the call, as well as subsequent messages from the Cupar units, and on her own initiative carried out a review of the area around a nightclub for a period prior to closing time earlier that morning. She identified a woman fitting the description who appeared under the influence of alcohol

“Nightie” nights in Mansfield the house, along with purses, wallets, cheque books, money boxes as well as all the land line telephones and mobile telephones. She had no idea where she may have been, what direction she headed in or what route she took and nothing to tell her where she may have left her precious items. Her plea to us was, “Did you catch me on camera at any time during the night? Could we help her in tracking down her items?” We felt so genuinely sorry for this lady that the search of the relevant cameras was carried out immediately and at no cost to her – we put it down on record as an audit check. Unfortunately, we were unable to help her or help her to resolve this mystery.We did get an update several weeks later telling us that the “lost” items had “not yet” been recovered.

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PCSO is a star of CCTV idents PCSO Padraig Henry of the Metropolitan Police Service (Lewisham) has been commended for identifying nearly 30 suspects from CCTV images for serious crime in 2009. These images were shown in Operation Javelin’s DCI Neville and PCSO Henry “Caught on Camera” journal. His efforts resulted in robbers, burglars and suspects for serious assault being brought to justice. His work was noted by DCI Mick Neville, who highlighted his “hit rate” to the Chief Superintendent at Lewisham. DCI Neville said, “Padraig had the highest number of idents for a PCSO. He demonstrates that local officers on Safer Neighbourhoods Teams have a great knowledge of local villains and this knowledge can be used to identify suspects. This is further proof that CCTV produces results if there is an end to end supervised process.” He added: “However, PCSO Henry will soon lose his title as Best Identifying PCSO as he is off to Hendon for training as a Police Constable. I am sure we all wish him well.”

Picture: www.vivienwoods.co.uk

WE DEAL WITH about two to three data access enquiries each week, many of them from insurance companies with regards to road traffic accidents. They are in the main, dull and boring, writes Catherine Bannister. We were very intrigued at Mansfield, when a lady telephoned, asking to make an appointment of the “utmost urgency and secrecy”, with myself and the senior CCTV operator. The appointed time arrived and a very respectable lady introduced herself. She was a dim and distant colleague of the senior operator so had taken a gamble that he might be able to help her. This lady is a notorious sleepwalker and quite embarrassingly for her, regularly takes to the streets in the middle of the night, dressed in her night attire. On a recent night trip out, she had collected up all the financial documents in

and who got into a taxi at about 0135 hours. She was able to identify the taxi company and from this information enquiries quickly established the identity of the taxi driver and shortly thereafter the identity of the woman, who it was found suffered from thyroid and diabetes problems. The woman was seriously ill with hypothermia and given a 50/50 chance of survival by Ninewells Hospital. However, because of the information that was communicated to Ninewells Hospital the woman was successfully treated and later made a full recovery. Her husband, who believed she was staying with a friend, was informed and was able to attend the hospital to be with his wife. “The CCTV operator was instrumental in identifying the woman quickly and thereby allowing us to swiftly communicate medical information to the hospital and identify family members to attend. These actions also identified that a crime had not in fact occurred allowing us to quickly stand down locus protection and free up police resources to other duties,” said CCTV coordinator Mark Waterfall. “The officers on Team 1, North East Fife, appreciated the assistance they received from the camera unit on this occasion, and indeed Team 1 officers have expressed their appreciation of the work done on their behalf on numerous occasions by the Romeo Victor unit over the past 20 months that I have been stationed at Cupar,” he added.

April 2010

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Staring into a high-def future At a recent seminar organised by security consultant Ilker Dervish and hosted by Sony and Motorola, speakers outlined their vision of a high-definition, wireless world, where CCTV cameras can be deployed farther afield and send increasingly better quality images back to the control room THE FUTURE IS INCREASINGLY wireless and IP, according to the speakers at a seminar in London organised by CCTV consultant Ilker Dervish and hosted by Sony and Motorola. While speakers gave their presentations, a high-definition monitor displayed images from a Sony HD IP dome camera located 2.1 km away. According to the organisers, the Sony SNC-DH140 HD camera was streaming the high quality images back to the seminar room at 8 mbps (megabits per second) over a wireless link. The wireless link was carried over a Motorola PTP500 radio where there was no clear line of sight between the transmission and receiving points. According to Mike Cole, sales manager for Sony UK, after several years of making modest in-roads into the analogue market, IP is beginning to find its feet. He said the change is being driven by a combination of factors including total cost of ownership which is lower than analogue, the fact that installers are becoming more familiar with IP products and because IP is more capable of integrating with new technology such as megapixel cameras and video analytics. According to Ilker Dervish, in new build projects, the CCTV Ilker systems being installed are almost exclusively IP video because of the reduced costs of cabling, ease and flexibility of installation and ability to integrate with other security and building management systems through the IP infrastructure. In refurbishment projects where there is a lot of analogue equipment still in service, steps have to be taken to accommodate the legacy analogue equipment such as the use of video encoders but it’s still worth creating an IP network which is ready to accept future technology. However, town centre systems have been more resistant to the IP message perhaps because of the scale of investment in analogue equipment and technical concerns such as latency, bandwidth and lack of standards for digital video which make it difficult for police and the criminal justice system to view the video.

New HD camera

Darren Shurmer, training specialist from Sony, introduced the new HD IP dome camera, the SNC-DH140 – Sony’s answer to the megapixel market. Sony believes that HD cameras will satisfy the security market’s need for megapixel cameras even though high resolution cameras are readily available. Shurmer said Sony has settled on the HD standard (1920 x 1080 pixels – approximately 2 Megapixels) primarily due to the relationship between resolution and sensitivity to light. Camera sensors – both CCD or CMOS chips – suffer from an unfortunate relationship between resolution and sensitivity: for a given chip size, as the resolution increases, the sensitivity to light decreases. While the signal can be boosted to brighten images, this is detrimental to the picture’s dynamic range, leading to a loss of detail in the shadows. The SNC-DH140 is a day/night camera featuring a one-third-inch CMOS sensor. It supports many of Sony’s advanced features including Visibility Enhancer, DEPA in-built video analytics, dual signal streaming with a combination of JPEG, MPEG-4 and H.264, and it’s ONVIF compliant. Wireless was another theme of the seminar, and Ian Walter, sales manager for Wireless Network Solutions at Motorola, explained how robust wireless networks could be created to support CCTV systems both in town centres and in rural areas. Issue sponsor

Dervish illustrates a recent case study In towns and cities, wireless networks can save considerable sums in both capital and revenue expenditure because you don’t have to rent copper or fibre optic cables from the telecoms providers and you can avoid the costs of trenching or cabling with your own infrastructure. While some people believe wireless has a reputation for being unreliable, Walter explained that with informed and appropriate technology choices and with the right technical expertise, highly robust and reliable wireless connections can be established over tens of kilometres and can even be made without having a clear line of sight using unlicensed radio bands. In rural areas, there was potentially an even greater argument in favour of wireless because there are fewer potential users of the radio frequencies, although interference issues can be mitigated by ensuring the technology employed has the appropriate technology built in. Distances of up to 50km and throughputs of between 10 and 300mbps can be achieved with Motorola’s unlicensed pointto-point technology in the UK and up to 768mbps if using licensed links, he said. Ilker Dervish summed up the seminar, saying he was certain that the market was ready for a wholesale move from standard resolution cameras to high-definition which included a move from standard 4:3 displays to 16:9. He predicted that as specifiers increasingly installed HD cameras, they would adopt the strategy of recording at the edge to reduce the demand for bandwidth, thereby only bringing images back from the camera as needed. He believes that within two years, a major camera manufacturer will introduce a camera that is capable of recording full-resolution, real-time video onto a flash memory card built into the camera while simultaneously sending a lower resolution video stream to a control centre. Sony’s representatives in the room refused to comment on this. He said the biggest digital challenges to end-users are managing bandwidth and capacity planning, working with IT departments who frequently don’t understand video surveillance and developing appropriate security policies. But he said the advantages of moving to IP – especially if you create a network that you own or control – far outweighed the disadvantages.

April 2010

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Counter Terrorism workshop CCTV & Video Surveillance will be the topic of a workshop being hosted by the editor of CCTV Image, Tom Reeve, at Counter Terror Expo on 14th April 2010 (Olympia exhibition hall, London). Come along and listen to the presentations and join the discussion. 13:50 - Why, How and Where to use the Latest Technologies Why not rely upon an electronic fence and manned patrol? Primary detection technologies integrated with CCTV; How to choose radar activated surveillance; How and where to use it what the future holds. Mr Andrew Rosenthal, Business Development Executive, CBC (Europe) Andrew Rosenthal joined CBC in the autumn of 2009 to lead its team developing and supplying surveillance solutions to the security industry. He joined from Navtech Radar. For the past two years, CBC and Navtech have been working on radar activated surveillance: a combination of millimetre wave radar controlling high-speed PTZ cameras. 14:15 - Beneﬁts of Video Surveillance for Mobile Urban applications What is COFDM Technology and why it has beneﬁts for urban surveillance? Comparison of mobile surveillance technologies; Performance characteristics of point-to-point surveillance links; Performance characteristics of IP mesh surveillance links Dr Marcus Penny, Senior Solution Manager, Cobham Surveillance During eight years at QinetiQ, Marcus was involved in unmanned ground vehicle research, primarily explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) and during the latter year was QinetiQ’s bid manager and system design authority for the CUTLASS programme. Since March 2008, Marcus has joined Cobham group as Senior Solution Manager.

S PEAKER

PROFILE

14:35 - Wireless & Blue Tooth Surveillance-Meeting the Challenge! Intelligence gathering smart phones, smart networks, SMART VILLANS; Using WiFi technology to fill in the gaps; Blue Tooth surveillance can defeat Skype security Mr Jim Pates, Managing Director, Airtrace Jim qualified in 1976 as a Merchant Marine Radio Officer and then spent two years serving on British merchant vessels as one of the last generation of Radio Officers who actually sent messages in anger over a Morse key. The radio communication background facilitated a move towards telecommunications and data communication. In 2006 Jim was approached by a vendor of WiFi surveillance products based in Sweden with a view to setting up a UK distribution company, Airtrace. 14:55 - Protection of critical infastructure with infrared imaging Thermal and non thermal infrared imaging; Choosing the right wavelength for the situation; Results of Belcost: NATO demonstration defence against terrorism Mr Martin Ghillemyn, Application Manager, Xenics Martin Ghillemyn, Master of Science in Physics. After a short career as lecturer at University, in1986 he was fascinated by the infrared spectrum, and specialised in analysis, training in thermography and thermal imaging. Within Xenics he now gives support, training and advice to the European distribution network for the security, scientific and machine vision market.

15:15 - Development in Surveillance Vehicles & Surveillance Equipment Conversion of Vehicles for covert surveillance purposes ie: Insulation, heating & power source; Installation of specialist equipment for various operations; Development in Surveillance Equipment-cameras, AV transmission, digital recording and accessories Mr Derek Myers, Project Director, GammaTSE 15:35 - Understanding Video Analytics What is video analytics? How does it work? What is it good at and what is not good at? What does the future hold? Mr Geoff Thiel, CEO, VCA Technology Geoff Thiel is currently the CEO of VCA Technology Ltd, a video analytics software company which he co-founded in February 2007 in partnership with a CCTV hardware manufacturer. The objective of VCA Technology is to de-mystify and simplify video analytics systems and bring them to the mass market. See speaker profile below. 15:55 - Efficient Solutions for Video Surveillance using HiRes Digital IP Systems The benefits of true IP system & analogue vs digital; Effective CCTV: it’s all about image quality; Why HiRes - Does more pixels mean fewer cameras? Efficient use of camera technology; 360-degree cameras: the future is now Mr Mike Lewis, Country Manager – UK & Eire, MOBOTIX Mike Lewis has a solid background in networks and infrastructures gained over nearly 20 years. He was one of the first people in the UK to sell and install

MOBOTIX cameras seven years ago. He has represented MOBOTIX at Distributor level for approx three years then went to work for them directly as Country Sales Manager for UK & Eire. 16:15 - 21st Century Surveillance: an overview of technology from a practical technical, commercial and strategic perspective Comparison of traditional security and surveillance technology and techniques against modern alternatives; Examples of practical converged networks; Advantages of future technologies and techniques Mr Matthew Wood, Technical & Sales Director, Tellemachus Matthew Wood has been involved in electrical & electronic engineering for over 20 years. In 1994, he co-founded Tellemachus. Tellemachus has evolved to become one of the UK’s leading innovators in the design, supply and support of security, surveillance, communication and IT solutions. 16:35 - Why is first rate technology not an industry norm? Are body-worn camcorders any good? 640X480 or 1920x1080 pixels? Is video file size a problem? What field-of-view? Is a national standard needed? Mr Lee Tracey, Director, iOptec Lee Tracey started out as a SGT ( Codes & Cyphers ) in the RAF Intelligence corps in 1943 and a lifetime of technical support service to the Intelligence services until finally retiring at 80 from duty as CCTV Consulting Engineer to West Midlands Police, but now a Director and Chief Engineer of iOptec Limited.

Move over motion detection, video content analysis is here

GEOFF THIEL, CEO of VCA Technology, pioneered Video Content Analytics more than 10 years ago when the company he headed then, PI Vision, developed one of the world’s first video analytics systems. He went on to found VCA Technology in 2007 which recently launched its analytics software suite VCAsys. “If we look back 10 years to the video analytics projects that we were involved with back Geoff Thiel then, there were some very key developments that took place in central Government-backed projects focused on tightening security in high security Category A prisons and other key government sites,” Thiel says. “We worked on the principle of the ‘double knock’ which is now widely used right across the professional security world,” he says. The principle of double knock is that the system takes feeds from multiple alarm systems and only passes on an alert if the right combination of alarms is detected – it was a kind of early day analytics, Thiel says.

“Very recently a similar technique was applied to a VCA system for detecting passengers trespassing on railway lines. This included passengers changing platforms by jumping down onto the tracks and crossing that way just to save time,” he says. “In this situation however the ‘multiple alarm systems’ were virtual devices generated hundreds of miles away, by software and using only video feed from the sites – today’s video based analytics.” He says the market has moved on a good deal since his involvement with some of the early analytics systems. “Perhaps the most significant change has been the widespread commercialisation of this technology in recent years,” he says. “A combination of affordability, usability and education of the end-user will continue to push video analytics into the mainstream within the next few years and we intend to play our part in accelerating widespread market adoption during this period in all three of these areas.” • Geoff Thiel will be speaking at Counter Terror Expo, Olympia, London on Wednesday 14th of April between 3.30pm and 4pm in the CCTV & Surveillance Workshop.

April 2010

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Rooms with a View

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Breckland goes wireless Breckland Council has been working with its new CCTV Partner Advance Monitoring Solutions (AMS) and Axis Communications, the global leader in the network video market to help create what is believed to be the first wireless IP-based surveillance system for a council in the UK IN A MOVE AIMED at bringing surveillance into the 21st Century, Breckland District Council has invested heavily in a new wireless IPbased surveillance system which will cover the five market towns of Dereham, Attleborough, Swaffham, Thetford and Watton which make up Breckland. The new cameras will be installed in the town centres and will replace the council’s existing analogue system. The council opted for a wireless system as it allows for greater flexibility for relocating cameras as risks change. The council has updated its public space surveillance to a new IP-based system in a bid to help reduce crime and incidents of anti-social behaviour in the region while improving safety. It anticipates that it will also help to save police time and resources, as the system allows them to log on remotely to view both live and recorded evidence rather than having to travel to the control room. At the core of the new system will be the Wireless cameras will link five towns to a central control room new Axis Q-6032-E, outdoor-ready PTZ dome network cameras which are designed to be easy to install, withstand tion in the long term.” harsh weather conditions and provide optimal performance at all times. The Council arranged a series of ‘road shows’ across Breckland Compared with the existing analogue cameras, the new Axis cameras enabling residents and business proprietors to find out more about the are tamper proof, able to move extremely fast with improved zoom specialist features of this new system and the new monitoring service capabilities and offer excellent image quality, even in poor light condi- being offered for commercial and residential CCTV, using their hightions. The supply, installation and maintenance of the new cutting-edge tech commercial monitoring station. CCTV system was awarded to Axis Partner, Advance Monitoring Andy Haughton, head of business development for AMS said, “As Solutions Ltd (AMS). the market leader in network video, Axis was the obvious choice to Once deployed, the council plans to offer businesses throughout partner with for this project as Breckland District Council is one of Breckland and East Anglia the chance to access the system for their the first pioneers to take the plunge and go entirely digital in one fell own surveillance needs. The council hopes businesses and residents swoop, from camera to control room utilising wireless IP. We are very will take advantage of the system to enhance their own security, impressed with the council’s methodology and open mindedness to thereby helping to expand the system’s sphere of influence and enhance realise the full potential of how the very latest technologies can bring community safety in the area for everyone. efficiencies and flexibility to Public Space Surveillance in a way not Breckland Council’s Executive Member for Sustainable Communities, previously seen within the industry.” Theresa Hewett said: “The council has been looking forward to this Phil Doyle, managing director, Axis Communications, UK and major upgrade for some time. We are confident that the Axis cameras Ireland said: “Breckland District Council is set to realise the many will make a major contribution towards improving safety and helping benefits offered by network video. The flexibility offered by the wireto reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in Breckland, and will take less system and the ease of installation of our cameras will enable the our plans for community safety and business support well into the council to move cameras quickly and easily. They also deliver high future.” resolution image quality, coupled with high frame rates which are very Grahame Green, the Community Safety officer for Breckland important when dealing with fast moving objects and varying light District Council leading on the project, explained the benefits of the conditions.” Axis will supply 68 Q-6032-E cameras for this project and footnew system: “The new wireless system offers a level of functionality and flexibility that age will be transmitted via an Alvarion wireless system. It has also our existing system is provided four rapid deployment cameras and a mega pixel contingent unable to provide. It that can be used in hot spot areas. The cameras have subscriber units will be cheaper and attached to them which takes digital footage from the camera, turns it easier to relocate the into radio and transmits it to the base station. The base station transmits wireless cameras and the data to the new digital control room, which is another first as it is the new system will a Public Private Partnership between Breckland and AMS and will be not be so reliant on run by AMS staff. CCTV Image will be speaking to Grahame in the near future, once costly fibre optics; offering an extremely the system has been fully installed, to produce an article on Breckland’s cost-effective solu- vision for this service that employs some new ideas and strategies. April 2010

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Rooms with a View

Pupils under IP surveillance Excelsior Academy is a new concept in secondary education. Located in Newcastle, it includes five ‘schools within a school’ with a capacity of 1,800 students aged 11-18. To help ensure safety and security, the school has chosen to install an IP-based video surveillance system EXCELSIOR ACADEMY HAS been designed to create four small 11-16 age group schools – The Hadrian Environment school which specialises in environment, technology and design, The Jefferson Arts School, The Milburn Health School and The Armstrong Business School – plus a post-16 college. Each school has a total of up to 375 students with 75 in a year group and, while the academy specialises in business enterprise, every school has its own identity and boasts its own entrance, classrooms and playground. Excelsior Academy is committed to providing the best possible learning opportunities for all students through high quality teaching and a wide curriculum. It is also committed to offering a safe and secure environment for its staff and pupils. When the original concept for Excelsior Academy was conceived, one of the primary concerns raised was how the pupils from the individual schools would interact with each other in the communal areas such as the dining and sporting facilities. With as many as one in three schools in the UK subjected to some form of vandalism, the new academy was determined to monitor behaviour and maintain its attractive surroundings. For the pupils’ own safety, they are not permitted to leave the site during the day and must remain in the academy during their lunch break. With the safety and security of all staff and pupils of paramount importance to the academy, it was initially decided that an analogue CCTV system should be rolled out throughout the organisation. The academy’s consulting engineers Cundall brought in security integrators 2020 Vision Technology to advise on this decision, who recommended that the academy would benefit from an IP-based surveillance system. “We recommended IP-based surveillance as it offers a host of benefits that will help create a secure and safe learning environment at the academy,” said Peter Houlis, managing director, 2020 Vision Technology. “The flexibility offered by network cameras allows staff to log on to the system from the office or remotely and for footage to be shared across the academy’s network.”

Modifying behaviour

2020 Vision Technology rolled out AXIS 216 Fixed Dome cameras throughout all areas of Excelsior Academy except the classrooms. The camera was recommended as it is an ideal solution for indoor environments which could potentially be exposed to vandalism. With progressive scan and image processing, the camera performs well in low-light. It has built-in two-way audio capabilities including an audio detection alarm which allows for real-time communication with visitors and intruders. The academy wanted to ensure that any inappropriate actions by pupils could be followed up and the network cameras give staff

Excelsior: One building, five schools, 1800 pupils

Cameras help modify behaviour, staff say the opportunity to analyse footage once an incident has occurred and identify the culprits. Peter Snowdon, the academy’s Business Manager, explains how he believes the system has helped curtail inappropriate behaviour: “When the academy first opened, our pupils weren’t really aware of our cameras and the impact they could have on their actions. “However, this soon changed. On numerous occasions we have been able to positively identify the instigators of inappropriate conduct due to the image quality the cameras provide. And, because we had the evidence, on more than one occasion, one of our pupils was reported to the police and charged with criminal damage. The pupils have seen that we take such incidents seriously and due to the widespread presence of our cameras, they know that there is nowhere to hide. As a result, less incidents of vandalism or other inappropriate behaviour have been reported.” The network cameras are situated in public areas of the academy and with the exception of the classrooms, there are very few areas not monitored. The cameras are not manned, so if an incident occurs, staff log-on to the system from the office or remotely and play back the footage to establish what has actually taken place and who was responsible. The system is operated from an easy-to-use command centre that allows images to be analysed in detail. Peter Houlis of 2020 Vision Technology said: “All education establishments present specific challenges from a security perspective. During the day security incidents revolve around inappropriate behaviour of pupils: bullying, petty theft, allegations against staff and vandalism for example. At night and during the long holidays the threats can be more serious - extending to arson, theft and criminal damage. “Backed by two of our supplier partners Axis Communications and Veracity UK we used our combined resource to deliver a ‘best of breed’ solution using a mix of Axis IP cameras, each specified for the particular application. With control and recording via an Instek Matrivideo enterprise level virtual matrix and recording system.” “Without doubt the camera presence has helped to modify behaviour in the school and create a safe environment for all staff and pupils. Although difficult to quantify we have definitely received an excellent return on investment from our surveillance equipment by preventing a lot of unnecessary damage and inconvenience. Ultimately it has allowed us to get on with the day-to-day running of the academy without having to waste time and money dealing with the irresponsible actions of a minority of disruptive pupils,” said Peter Snowdon.

April 2010

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Case study

Glasgow chooses i-Comply Glasgow Community & Safety Services, backed by a highly trained security team, monitors more than 1,000 alarm and CCTV equipped premises across the city via a network of over 300 cameras. To manage all the information associated with this, it helps to have special software GLASGOW COMMUNITY & SAFETY Services (GCSS), is an organisation that aims to prevent crime, tackle antisocial behaviour and promote community safety in the city. From council premises, to museums, schools and private company buildings (whose owners pay a subscription for the service), members of the team can be dispatched to investigate anything from lights left on, to alarm activations, graffiti, insecure premises and break-ins. Key to their success has been a cross-technology security infrastructure solution based on the V-TAS Pro Integrated Security Application Platform from i-COMPLY. Based around three key sites – a public space CCTV Control Room, an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC), and a Dispatch Centre – GCSS provides public space surveillance monitoring, combined with remote CCTV and alarm supervision of facilities in and around Glasgow’s city centre.

Information is the key

As GCSS developed over the years, it was evident to Walter Kean, head of facilities and his management team that an effective IT solution was key to the future development of the services they provide. “Having worked with i-COMPLY before, we approached them with a view to employing their latest V-TAS Pro Integrated Security Application Platform as a cross-technology security infrastructure solution. This would serve as a central command, control, recording and reporting building block,” explains Walter. “It was very important for us to work with a supplier who would listen to our operational issues… Too many suppliers are keen to steer customers towards their proprietary generic products, without satisfactorily addressing the original issues on site,” he says. “With i-COMPLY, the solution directly addresses the individual issues that are unique to our service, via a comprehensive range of ‘bolt on’ modules i-COMPLY have to offer – all of which are hardware agnostic and capable of inter-

THE BALL

facing with the current technologies we employ.” GCSS didn’t want to discard legacy equipment as part of the upgrade. “Using i-COMPLY technology, we were able to maximise the original analogue and digital equipment investment made by the council, and take ownership of an open platform with which to integrate any future technology or product we may subsequently wish to add,” Walter says. The V-TAS Pro Integrated Security Application Platform and its shared centralised database now provides all three GCSS sites with detailed reporting on incidents. In addition, i-COMPLY ‘bolt on’ modules provide tailored functionality for vehicle and people tracking, dispatch logs, incident reports, performance reports, key holder management, and asset tracking. In the Public Space CCTV control room, V-TAS provides operators

Bosch’s MIC Series 400 cameras vital for policing in Glasgow

MORE THAN 30 Bosch MIC Series 400 cameras are protecting the public in Glasgow city centre following trials in other parts of the city. Glasgow Community and Safety Services (GCSS), an organisation set up by Glasgow City Council and Strathclyde Police, was keen to provide the city’s three million visitors and locals alike with a safe environment to socialise. So it created the Night Zone, designed to help residents and visitors get home quickly and safely from a night out in the city. With an average of 100,000 people coming into the city centre on a Friday and Saturday evening, GCSS worked together with its partners to enhance street lighting, increase CCTV coverage, provide a help point network and introduce transport marshals to answer questions from the public on how best to get home. The cameras play a vital role in this. Brian Maguire, managing director at Racam, installers of the system explains: “Glasgow City Council installed some 20 MIC cameras in the parks about five years ago and it was impressed with the camera’s robustness, design and image quality.” Part of the appeal was the MIC camera’s compact, attractive design but the ability to react to situations was also key, which is why the MIC Series 400 PA version with twin public address speakers was specified. MIC Series cameras have also been fitted to 19 of GCSS’ vehicles to provide mobile surveillance and were part of a solution trialled during

the Scottish Cup Final last year, as Walter Kean, head of facilities at GCSS comments: “In the first year the cameras were installed, we conducted a survey and discovered that there had been a 20 per cent reduction in offences, particularly around taxi ranks,” he says. “During the cup final we were able to deploy the vehicles to the coach drop off points, to monitor the fans’ behaviour – that kind of versatility is invaluable to help drive the reaction from the police or council.” MIC Series 400 pan-tilt-zoom cameras are rated to any industry-leading IP68 for performance in the most extreme surveillance environments and can be mounted upright, inverted or canted for total flexibility. Walter Kean concludes: “Such is the success of the Night Zone scheme that 700 crimes have been prevented, amounting to a saving of at least £500,000 a year. A number of other councils across the country have visited to see the set up for themselves and are now using it as a template for their own CCTV solutions.”

April 2010

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CCTVImage and managers with a fully-integrated ‘back office’ management tool. V-TAS affords in-depth control over the control room’s operational and legislative environment – helping to ensure a correct response to each and every incident monitored. The powerful software management tool produces detailed performance reports, in addition to documented evidential audit trails, to assist with effective prosecution evidence.

Multiple benefits

As Ross MacPhail, CCTV Information & Support Officer explains, the benefits of this are realised in the smooth running of the CCTV control room. “We extract a variety of reports from V-TAS on a daily basis, each one sent to the relevant recipient quickly and easily,” he says. “The real beauty of V-TAS reporting is that we can extract and report exactly the right information needed for the purpose – without leaving anything out, and without including peripheral information that a recipient doesn’t need. This affords succinct reports that are packed with easy-to-understand information – and all accessed at the touch of a button. “Daily intelligence reports are gathered from the public space camera network, detailing all incidents that have occurred in the last 24-hours. These are sent to the police, local authority teams, the anti-violence reduction task force, and individual high-level police officers – each using the information for the benefit of their individual teams and areas of responsibility. “Community groups are sent information on the level of camera usage in their area, helping them to understand what the CCTV cameras are doing for their community day-to-day, and reinforcing our position as a service provider.” In the Dispatch Centre, i-COMPLY’s integration capability has afforded instant operator overviews of any situation. This enables the maximum supply of information, allowing operators to provide a measured and appropriate response to any incident.

| Case study With one simple and intuitive route to all system functionality, operators can instantly track the position of each of the fleet of security cars – wherever they are in the city. Interfacing with TomTom GPS navigation systems fitted on each council vehicle, operators are presented (via V-TAS) with a live map display of the location of each car. “The visual display of each of our teams’ location is by far the best way to track each unit,” adds Walter Kean. “It allows our operators to make informed and effective decisions about which unit should respond – all via the intuitive V-TAS interface.” Through the same interface, Dispatch Centre operators can also access live video from CCTV cameras mounted on each vehicle. Also incorporated into the V-TAS system at Glasgow is i-COMPLY’s Key and Asset Control module. This provides audited, paperless key and asset management. Dispatch Centre operators are also in radio contact with security staff as they make scheduled rounds to the protected building network. Again using the single-route functionality of the V-TAS interface, they can instantly be presented with images from CCTV cameras. V-TAS automatically presents images only from the cameras nearest to the selected patrol team or individual. “A picture is worth a thousand words as they say. Having instant access to high-quality imagery means our operators are only ever a mouse-click away from an overview of any situation, allowing them to deploy assistance as necessary,” adds Walter. Supporting the long-tern effective keystone of daily operations at GCSS, Glasgow City Council has now completed a comprehensive on-site training facility for the V-TAS System. Comprising 12 training workstations, the new facility will be used to ensure even more GCSS employees become fluent in the simple operation of V-TAS and the iCOMPLY modules relevant to them, ensuring the maximum return on the council’s investment and the continued smooth running of all aspects of GCSS’s daily business.

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Rooms with a View

Bexley gets an upgrade When the London Borough of Bexley needed to upgrade its ageing CCTV equipment, it decided to adopt a radical solution. An innovative partnership with the private sector which may lead the way for other councils to deliver high quality CCTV services with reduced long term costs

WALKING INTO THE EXISTING control room at the London Borough of Bexley reminds us how far technology has moved on in the last 10 years. Like many local authorities the London Borough of Bexley faced the issue of how to upgrade outmoded equipment and adopt new technology without incurring huge costs. CCTV has demonstrated its worth over the last 10 years, but the control centre was constructed many years ago, with VHS recording, and 45 separate monitors. In a Borough ranked fourth safest in London, it’s perhaps not surprising that renewing the system is on the council’s priority list. And having decided to upgrade, they are doing it in a bold and innovative way by outsourcing nearly everything to a private company. In a contract worth £7 million over 10 years, Siemens will build the new control room, maintain all the cameras and, most significantly, run the control room. Staff - including the CCTV manager - will be employed by Siemens for the life of the contract – ten years with options to renew. The CCTV industry will watch with interest as Bexley transfers its in-house staff and hands over responsibility for monitoring to a private company. Will the contract be a success?

Strategic shift

Like many councils at the time, Bexley developed its CCTV system in the mid-1990s when the Home Office was offering grants to encourage the take-up of this new technology. According to Maureen Holkham, the council’s deputy director for neighbourhoods and communities, the original analogue equipment was becoming increasingly obsolete and more expensive to maintain. Despite the cost, CCTV has proved its value in the decade since it was installed and there was never any question of decommissioning the system. “Residents consistently make clear to us that they want more CCTV in the borough, not less. Any discussions we have about moving cameras in response to crime patterns are usually accompanied by expressions of concern from residents,” she said. The system is responsible for hundreds of arrests each year, as well as handling thousands of other incidents that don’t result in arrest. In our minds and our councillors’ minds, CCTV has already demonstrated its worth and they never considered curtailing the system or switching it off.” However, given the state of the system, an upgrade was clearly called for. As Maureen Holkham explains, the council had the option

April 2010

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of managing that in-house or working with an external partner. It was felt that an external partner would help the council access the most up-to-date technology. “We had this ten-year lag between installing the analogue system and now. During this time, CCTV has moved on apace, so we were quite keen that we had a high-tech partner who would ensure we were using the best equipment.” “Value for money and quality were also major considerations. We were anxious to outsource to get the best deal, as all councils must demonstrate that they are delivering in terms of value for money,” she said. Based on these arguments, councillors gave their approval to put out a request for tenders which included opportunities to propose income generation options in order to reduce the long-term costs of the service. “At this stage, we could have looked at all the tenders and said, no this is not for us. But, when it came in with its tender, Siemens had some very attractive ideas for the new service, including realistic income generating proposals on the back of the contract,” Steve Farley: Outsourcing will revolutionise CCTV in Bexley she said. “This was a private sector company which was used to going out and selling to the market, which councils don’t rooms doing similar things and yet there are effectively three police always do so well,” she said. “So to have a private organisation to do forces – the City of London Police, Metropolitan Police Service and British Transport Police,” he says. that was extremely attractive.” “Is there a need for over 100 control rooms in London when technological convergence allows us to do it all from one place?” he asks. “Is it really feasible in the long run to operate those as independent The criteria for success in this project hinges on the ability of Siemens control rooms?” to improve on Bexley’s key performance indicators, deliver the service Siemens is working on the development of the next generation of for a measured fee and generate some income for the council to help the TV Network Protocol (TVNP), which is already successfully used offset the overall service costs. to link cameras between Transport for London, London boroughs and According to Tony O’Brien, business development director for various police forces, including the MPS and BTP. Siemens, revenue generation is a key part of the strategy for Bexley “With TVNP, I don’t see why we can’t have super control rooms in as well as Siemens. He believes there is significant scope for Bexley strategic areas throughout London,” he says, a concept which fits with to become a hub for CCTV monitoring in the Southeast of London. recommendations 10, 30, 32 and 33 of the National CCTV Strategy. Technology is enabling increased centralisation of monitoring services and the quest for greater efficiencies will drive the market in that direction, he says. “The hypothesis is that in London alone there are over 100 control The CCTV manager at Bexley is Steve Farley, formerly with the Metropolitan Police. Steve and David Sweetland, Bexley’s technical consultant with Independent Technical Services, explained the plan. The control room will be moved from its current site to another council building two-and-a-half miles away. Siemens will build a new control room in premises owned by Bexley, which Siemens will then operate for a minimum of 10 years with an option to renew for between two and five years after that. In the meantime, the borough cameras – some 240 in all – will continue to be owned and strategically managed by Bexley, but maintained under contract with Siemens. Bexley and Siemens will actively work with local organisations and businesses to bring in third-party monitoring contracts which will be serviced by Siemens. Potential partners include schools, colleges, hospitals, leisure centres, shopping centres, business parks and commercial organisations. “If a third party contracts with Siemens for monitoring, they pay Siemens who then pass savings on to the borough.” says Steve.

Success criteria

Hands on

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April 2010

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What if it takes off and becomes profitable to the council? “Profit is not the council’s objective,” Steve says. “If it is that successful, the income will be reinvested in community safety.”

Police liaison

Jointly working with the police and other partners is a vital part of many CCTV schemes these days. How does outsourcing this contract to Siemens affect that? Steve explains that, as the council’s designated contractor, Siemens must carry on and build upon relationships with the police and other partners. The new control room includes dedicated police review suites and space at the operators’ control desk to accommodate visiting police who may be using CCTV for special operations. Siemens is employing a subcontractor to manage the staff in the new control centre. The company, Wilson James, is a security services company which employs 1700 security staff throughout the UK. While managing a local authority CCTV control centre The control room: requires is a new area of business for Wilson James, operations director some modernisation Ron Dickin says they are well prepared for it, having managed Siemens delivers.” CCTV operations for blue-chip clients with multiple sites. Income generation from “Strictly speaking it’s a new service line for us but in reality we work in so many control rooms for customers that we are very third-party monitoring is a familiar with CCTV monitoring and recording and issues such as major strand of this project, the Data Protection Act which we have dealt with for many years,” and Steve is convinced it offers many advantages. “We he says. know that the power of CCTV is vastly increased by efficient monitoring, the borough is now Steve Farley smiles when I ask about industry reaction to Bexley’s able to provide an excellent plans. Fellow CCTV managers were sceptical about it at a recent service to a range of organisaCCTV User Group conference, he says, but some of the scepticism tions whose own security can evaporated when he explained that Siemens still had to be competi- be greatly enhanced,” he says. tive to win new business. Contracts for additional work, such as moving equipment or installing new cameras, will still be awarded on value for money and there is no guarantee that Siemens has the inside track on any- Success depends on forging a working partnership between Bexley and Siemens, winning the confidence of the public sector, private sector thing. “That’s the unique thing about this contract,” says Steve. “People and residents and successfully transferring council staff through TUPE assumed that everything was being taken over by Siemens. I’ve told to Wilson James. “We are pioneering something that hasn’t been done people that this is not the case – far from it. It really is a partner- in this industry before,” David says. Steve and David have worked closely with the staff and Wilson ship, where the council sets the overall strategy and direction, and James to ensure a smooth transition to help staff embrace the new technology in their new working environment. The new control room will have more space and be ergonomically designed to the latest standards. A new Synectics matrix will be installed and SynergyPro graphical user interface (GUI) workstations will help operators navigate quickly around the system. Equipment, currently housed in racks behind the operator workstations, will have a separate, climate controlled room. The facility will have its own kitchen, break room and toilets. Visiting police officers will have their own review suite and the CCTV manager will have a separate office and review facilities which will minimise disruption to staff in the event of an incident which requires emergency services personnel to be in the control room. “The new facility is one thousand percent better. Staff, residents and partners will all start to see the benefit over the next few months,” said David. CCTV Image will revisit Bexley to see how the changeover is progressing and whether outsourcing pays off for this London borough. An old fashioned degausser crackles to life

Scepticism

Managing change

April 2010

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| Opinion

Your surveillance society

Pictures: Simon Lambert

Hardly ever out of the headlines, CCTV is a subject that draws fire from everyone from liberals to conservatives. The media love it and they hate it. Academics are convinced it doesn’t work. Politicians love it or hate it. What is the future of our Big Brother technology? Tom Reeve writes

IT SEEMS AS IF CCTV is hardly ever out of the headlines. Stories range from the positive (eg. “Man convicted on CCTV evidence”) and the hopeful (eg. “Police release CCTV images of suspect”) to the doubtful (eg. “Why weren’t CCTV cameras working?”) and the negative (eg. “Thousands of CCTV cameras cost millions”). Meanwhile, the story that arguably kickstarted the CCTV revolution in the UK is back in the news, as Jon Venables – who along with Robert Thompson abducted, tortured and murdered Jamie Bulger in February 1993 – has been recalled to prison for an unspecified violation of his licence of release.The grainy CCTV images of the toddler Jamie being led away by two children (aged 10) is widely credited with the surge in public support for CCTV. And now CCTV appears to have become a political football, with the Prime Minister Gordon Brown calling out the Conservative Party leader David Cameron for his lack of public support for CCTV. According to an article on Bloomberg, at a major speech on law and order in Reading recently, the Prime Minister challenged the Conservative Party’s view that British society is “broken” and sought to use its opposition to closed-circuit television cameras and a DNA database as evidence that the party is made up of privileged people out of touch with the majority of the population. “I know some people think CCTV is excessive but they don’t have to take the night bus home,” Brown said in his speech in Reading, west of London. “I know the hard-working majority will never be able to live in a gated community or hire a private security firm.” It is, according to Simon Hoggart in the Guardian, part of a wider attempt to repaint Labour as the “hanging and flogging party, whereas the Tories are a bunch of bleeding-heart, Guardian-reading milquetoasts”. In fact, a search of the internet fails to turn up any statements by David Cameron on the subject of CCTV, while a search of “CCTV” and “David Davis” – erstwhile candidate for the leadership of the Issue sponsor

Conservative Party - reveals numerous references to the expense, ineffectiveness and privacy invasiveness of CCTV. I asked the Conservative Party press office to comment on their policy toward CCTV. A spokesperson replied: “We believe that CCTV does have an important role, but that role has not been properly defined. Much greater emphasis needs to be given to using it as a forensic tool to detect and prosecute crime than simply seeing it as a crime prevention technique in its own right. “We talk about DNA detections of crime but scarcely talk about CCTV detections. This has to change to deliver appropriate returns on investment. And this means using people. Technology is only as good as the human back-up that sits behind it. The inter-relationship between innovation and the individual is key. And this is ever more relevant in getting the most out of our police.” More of a statement of values than a statement of policy – it actually raises more questions than it answers such as how much funding, relationships with the police, regulation and so on – but it goes someway toward distancing David Cameron from David Davis on CCTV and, should the Conservatives gain a clear majority at the general election, it’s unlikely that they will decommission all the CCTV cameras in the UK.

Teetering on the brink

Nevertheless, there are major doubts surrounding CCTV and its future which, if we as an industry can’t answer them, could spell the ultimate end for this technology. Some of them are pragmatic and political while others are ethical and political because, of course, if society is a Venn diagram, politics is the junction between the pragmatic and the ethical. So why do I say CCTV is teetering on the brink?

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April 2010

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Opinion

1. Budget cuts

impediment to the investigation – apart from locating and seizing all the video footage that could be found – was then finding the right hardware to play the footage back.

With council budgets facing up to 20% cuts in next few years, councils will have to cut back on services and there won’t be as much money available through crime reduction partnerships. A lot of things will be cut back – or cut altogether.

7. What is CCTV for? Since the death of Jamie Bulger in 1993, there has been a growing expectation in the public mind that CCTV is about preventing crime. When it fails to prevent it, people complain because they have the expectation that someone will see the crime being committed and call the police to stop it. Mostly CCTV has proven its value in investigating crime – a point that is lost on most people including the academic researchers who have been called in to evaluate CCTV.

2. CCTV is a discretionary service Unlike other services provided by councils, there is nothing on the statute books to require councils to provide CCTV. Nor is there anything to require them to man the cameras 24/7. Already we see people knocking CCTV because it’s not manned all the time.

3. Civil liberties Although the argument that CCTV cameras are an invasion of privacy is largely dormant now, there is still a danger that it could be resurrected if people feel that cameras are being used to nick them for “minor offences” like parking on red lines, driving in bus lanes, etc (although personally I don’t have much sympathy for people who get nicked for this). The pressure to use CCTV for these purposes could only grow as financial pressures force councils to find new ways of funding CCTV. In addition, there is the danger that the issue of speed cameras will be conflated with CCTV, leading to negative backlash.

8. Academic research doesn’t “get” CCTV CCTV is a complex and multifaceted service which academics seem to have a difficult time modelling in their crime prevention theories. Although there is a mountain of anecdotal evidence that CCTV gets results, the academic reports don’t back this up. Is it because they aren’t asking the right questions? Perhaps we should commission some academic research to find out.

9. CCTV is about more than crime prevention CCTV is also a management tool. To pigeonhole it simply as an adjunct to the police is to miss out on the many other benefits that it brings including looking for missing people, gathering evidence of ASBOs (a process that can take months and months), calling for assistance for people who are ill or distressed, helping people at help points in car parks and elsewhere, providing monitoring for fire and ambulance crews going into potentially hostile situations, early warning of floods and fires, combating fly-tipping and other eco-crimes, investigating health and safety issues and so on. The danger is that the emphasis on CCTV as a crime prevention tool stokes the Big Brother image of video surveillance. While the public are generally supportive of CCTV, if we continue to allow the focus of CCTV to be on the negative – ie, crime and punishment, sometimes for fairly minor offences – we run the risk of losing public support.

4. Police relations A subject that has been brewing between police and CCTV control rooms almost from day one, this could threaten to boil over if the balance of power shifts too far in one direction or another. Police officers depend on the cooperation and goodwill of control room staff and yet there is a feeling in certain quarters that the police are making a land grab for CCTV through the National CCTV Strategy. On the other hand, police often feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of material coming from CCTV systems – both publicly owned and private – and if they feel that the systems are not making an effort to standardise their approach to CCTV, it could hamper efforts to further integrate police into CCTV control rooms.

5. Technical standards We are more than a decade into the digital revolution in CCTV and there is still a lack of standards for codecs, camera resolution, storage and so on. We don’t even know how to ascertain the quality of a digital CCTV system where there is motion in the image with arguments abounding over frame rates, resolution, digital storage versus live view, and the effects of motion codecs on frame dropping, digital artefacts, colour depth and so on. Our columnist, Colin Greene, has spoken of his frustration at the lack of leadership coming from the Home Office Scientific Development Branch over standards for measuring CCTV image quality.

10. The media love negative stories

6. Digital recording standards As if that wasn’t bad enough, there isn’t a standard for storing digital footage in a manner that makes it simple to retrieve. In the event of a major investigation, it’s virtually impossible to burn enough DVDs to provide all the evidence. With CCTV storage capacity reaching in the multi-terabyte range, it’s important to remember that it would take a stack of nearly 200 DVDs to store a single terabyte of data. Meanwhile, copying onto USB hard drives can take days, with the result that police sometimes have little option but to seize the entire system. Even then the problem is not solved if the police don’t have the right equipment. Following the 7/7 bombings in 2005, a major

CCTV had its honeymoon for years and years and now the mainstream media (not the specialist media like this publication) have decided it’s time to turn the tables. Having built up the public’s expectations of what CCTV can achieve, they can now begin to pick away at the edifice. They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and in the hands of the mainstream media it’s positively lethal. The reasons for this are complex and have to do with the way journalists compete within the newsroom to get their stories placed in the paper or radio/TV timetable, but the effect is that sensational news sells and more complex “on the one hand/on the other hand” stories are perceived as uninteresting. Then of course special interest groups and politicians jump on the bandwagon, and the CCTV industry has not done a very good job of fighting back. Although they continue to do an excellent job of putting out positive news stories about CCTV doing good things, the industry hasn’t been very good at tackling the issues of privacy, countering the academic research and supporting those politicians who speak out in favour of the technology.

April 2010

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Digital storage

Megapixels and terror bytes Video storage is like a vault: you expect your data to be safe inside but circumstances – and worse yet – system design can conspire against you, leaving you sitting high and dry when you need your footage most. We take a look at some of the technologies and ask how safe it is THERE’S NOTHING SIMPLE about digital storage. The manufacturer, installer or specifier who tells you that you don’t need to worry about storage either doesn’t understand what they’re talking about or is trying to keep you from asking too many awkward questions. That’s the message that we got from speaking to three manufacturers of storage systems: Veracity UK Ltd, Promise Technology Inc. and Intransa Inc. These three companies specialise in digital storage for video surveillance. According to them, storing video surveillance data is a unique challenge, unlike any other IT storage requirement. To appreciate the challenges, first you have to understand a little bit about storage technology.

Into the mega maze

When it comes to storage there are many different technologies, ranging from the simple to the complex. • HDD – hard disk drive. In the past 30 years, capacity has risen 400,000-fold, from 5 megabytes (5 million bytes) to 2 terabytes (2 trillion bytes). • JBOD – just a bunch of disks which, as the name suggests, is just an array of independent drives. • RAID – redundant array of inexpensive disks, a technology that allows computer users to achieve high levels of storage reliability from low-cost and less reliable PC-class disk-drive components. Varieties include RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 6. • SAN – storage area network, an architecture to attach remote computer storage devices (such as disk arrays, tape libraries, and optical jukeboxes) to servers in such a way that the devices appear as locally attached to the operating system. A SAN typically is its own network of storage devices that are generally not accessible through the regular network by regular devices. • NAS – network-attached storage, a computer connected to a network that only provides file-based data storage services to other devices on the network. Although it may technically be possible to run other software on a NAS unit, it is not designed to be a general purpose server. NAS units usually do not have a keyboard or display, and are controlled and configured over the network, often using a browser. • MAID – massive array of idle disks, system using hundreds to thousands of hard drives for near-line data storage. MAID is designed for Write Once, Read Occasionally (WORO) applications. Compared to RAID technology a MAID has increased storage density, and decreased cost, electrical power, and cooling requirements. Many of these storage methods are used in IT systems which is where the digital CCTV industry has borrowed much of its technology. However, the IT world differs from video surveillance recording in several important ways. 1. IT departments generally have large budgets for technology, reflecting the “mission critical” nature of their work. 2. IT applications store and retrieve information in a different way to CCTV systems. Typically, IT applications read some information from a

database, modify it and then write it back to the same spot in the database. It may be accessing the database for hundreds of users at the same time and each request will access a random part of the database. In video surveillance, the data is stored sequentially and rarely accessed again. 3. IT departments have specialist staff to look after the systems whereas in most CCTV systems, the storage system is expected to be install-andforget, except for the occasional visit from your maintenance engineer. 4. IT systems have multiple levels of backups, and multiple copies of online data, allowing them to take systems on and off line, for service, maintenance and off-line backing-up. Video storage systems typically have no such fall-back positions and must work 24/7 even when archiving data (downloading files) or rebuilding a failed disk (in a RAID array).

Sloppy disk drives

One of the success stories of the IT industry has been hard disk storage: failure rates are very low; cost has plunged dramatically in past 30 years; and storage capacity and read/write speeds have increased greatly. You can now buy a terabyte of storage for less than £100 which in 1980 would have cost you well in excess of £25 million. So cost is down and speed and reliability are up, and yet anyone who plans a digital storage system without taking into account the prospect of disk failure will inevitably encounter problems. What are some of the causes of disk failure? “While it is often assumed that disk failures follow a simple fail-stop model (where disks either work perfectly or fail absolutely and in an easily detectable manner), disk failures are much more complex in reality,” according to a paper by Bianca Schroeder and Garth A. Gibson of Carnegie Mellon University. Examples of disk failure that they quote include latent sector faults or transient performance problems. “Often it is hard to correctly attribute the root cause of a problem to a particular hardware component,” they say.

April 2010

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D IGITAL

ON ICE

Veracity explains COLDSTORE, its new approach to video storage

“VIDEO IS JUST data, right?” Wrong. Video data are unlike general IT data in the manner in which they are generated and processed. Most IT data are processed in a “read-modify-write” manner via random-access I/O to a database, usually with high data rates but not vast data volumes. In contrast, video data are produced sequentially in a relentless, never-ending 24/7 process. Further, video data are typically 97 per cent input (record) and only 3 per cent output (playback). Thus storage systems developed for general purpose IT applications are unsuited to video surveillance. Temperature, vibration and wear are three factors in disk failures. Conventional JBOD and especially RAID arrays present hard disks with a bad combination of these factors, exacerbating problems and shortening disk lifetimes, especially when low-cost desktop-type drives are used. Worse still, increasing disk capacities are extending RAID rebuild times to such an extent that there is a very high risk of losing another drive during the process and therefore of losing the entire archive. Further, RAID5/RAID6 systems are power-hungry, complex, ideally require heavy duty hard disks and are totally inappropriate for mass transportation of evidential data. These issues become critical in the new era of mega-pixel cameras which require far higher storage capacities. Veracity UK Ltd foresaw these problems and developed COLDSTORE, a storage system designed from the ground up to suit surveillance applications, avoiding all the problems of RAID5/6 whilst focusing on the needs of end users and authorities.

In fact, it is actually difficult to get end-users, system integrators and manufacturers to agree on when a disk is faulty, partly because each party may define failure in different terms. “A common way for a customer to test a drive is to read all of its sectors to see if any reads experience problems, deciding that it is faulty if any one operation takes longer than a certain threshold,” say Schroeder and Gibson. “The outcome of such a test will depend on how the thresholds are chosen… it cannot be ruled out that a customer may declare a disk faulty while its manufacturer sees it as healthy.” The authors cite the example of one disk vendor who reported that 43 per cent of all disks returned by customers had no fault that they could find – a case of the customer being too picky or the vendor not discriminating enough? Whilst the disk manufacturers may be particular about what comprises a disk fault, nearly all installers will agree that anything which requires them to go to site and fix something is a fault! To measure the reliability of disk drives, manufacturers use a statistical measurement called Mean Time to Failure (MTTF) which involves bench testing numerous disks and seeing how long it takes for them to fail. Modern disks have reached high levels of reliability with typical MTTFs of between 1 million and 1.5 million hours – or something between 114 and 171 years. However, the authors found that disk replacement rates typically exceeded 1 per cent per annum, with 2-4 per cent being common and up to 13 per cent in some cases. “This suggests that field replacement is a fairly different process than one might predict based on datasheet MTTF,” they say. And clearly it’s no industry secret that disks fail, otherwise why would we engineer redundancy into storage systems? What manufacturers’ bench tests don’t tend to measure is the effect on disk life of being used in a storage array. Packed side by side in metal boxes, disks are subjected to extremes of heat, vibration and high wear through constant use. And there’s more. “The failure behaviour of disk drives, even if they are of the same model, can differ, since disks are manufactured using processes and parts that may change,” say Schroeder and Gibson. “This effect is often called the effect of batches or vintage. A bad batch can lead to unuIssue sponsor

| Digital storage COLDSTORE dramatically increases the reliability of even the lowest cost hard disks, uses very little power, and produces disks which are directly playable when extracted from the array. In effect, COLDSTORE uses hard disks as if they were digital video tapes. The disks are written to sequentially, with all other disks switched off. A special sequential disk filing system ensures the disk read/write arm is near-static, removing almost all disk head vibration from the array. A clever mirrored-overlapping pair writing pattern ensures that no data are lost if a disk fails. Further, no disk rebuilds are ever necessary. Overall, this arrangement achieves stunning benefits: disks are switched off for 87 per cent of the time; disk reliability increases by an order of magnitude; power dissipation is minimal; disk read/ write performance is maximised; SATA disks of any make/model/ capacity may be used and mixed; disk management is simple for the end user; physical location of any particular time span is done in seconds; disks are easily extracted and transported allowing rapid seizure of the entire archive; each disk is playable in a standard PC via USB connection; an empty array will automatically use any disk inserted into it; disks may be added at any time; older disks may be replaced on a rolling basis as higher capacity disks become available (without stopping the system at any time); an infinite loop of disks may be used for semi-permanent archiving; multiple arrays may be used to scale storage as required; and finally, an array of 15 disks (currently 30TB max) uses only 56 watts in normal operation.

sually high drive failure rates or anomalously high rates of media errors.” In one example cited by the authors, a customer had 11,000 disk drives replaced after observing too many media errors when storing data. It took a year before the vendor would agree that the disks did not meet warranty conditions. The cause was the breakdown of a lubricant which caused the read/write arm of the disk (similar to the stylus on a vinyl record player) to sit too far above the surface of the disk platter.

Irreparable damage

As if this wasn’t enough, there is another problem that disks can suffer from, something which affects RAID 5 performance in particular. It’s called the unrecoverable read error (URE) and some IT experts claim controversially that it could mark the end of RAID 5. If a RAID 5 array suffers a failed disk then it operates in degraded mode until the bad disk is replaced. Assuming that the IT operative doesn’t accidentally pull the wrong disk out of the array – a very bad thing indeed! – the RAID controller then has the daunting task of reconstructing the data on the new disk. The URE is the probability that a bit of data on the remaining disks has been damaged so badly that it cannot be read. In standard SATA drives, the URE is 1 in 100 trillion which sounds like very long odds until you consider that a 2 terabyte SATA drive has almost 18 trillion bits in it. If you build a RAID 5 array using six 2TB disk drives and one of them fails, the chances of encountering a URE during rebuild is almost one-to-one. If the bit can’t be read, then the entire sector of data containing that bit may be bad and the RAID controller will be unable to reconstruct the corresponding sector of the drive that’s being rebuilt. The doomsayers claim the RAID controller may be unable to reconstruct the entire disk at all, leading to a fatal URE error. Result: total loss of data. One industry commentator said that if you were storing a petabyte of data (1000 terabytes) in RAID 5 arrays – a distinct possibility as CCTV systems grow under the influence of megapixel cameras, increased camera numbers and centralisation of control rooms – you could lose data twice a year. However, it may not be as bad as that because disks incorporate error

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April 2010

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Digital storage

www.photography.mattﬁeld.com

correcting codes (ECC) in each sector of data which enables the disk to correct for single bit errors. Nonetheless, there are some IT experts who insist some RAID controllers are still vulnerable to UREs and it’s a fundamental flaw of RAID 5 that you are extremely vulnerable during disk rebuild – should a second disk fail for any reason, you don’t just lose the data on one disk, you lose all of the data on all the disks. The flaws in RAID 5 are well recognised in the IT community which is why an even more redundant version of RAID was invented – RAID 6 trumps RAID 5 by adding one more safety disk to the array. In addition, IT systems also use something called SMART – self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology – to keep an eye on the health of disks and isolate them from the system before they suffer a catastrophic failure.

Predicting disaster

One storage manufacturer we spoke to, Promise Technology, uses Predictive Data Migration (PDM), an advanced form of error detection and error handling. As marketing director Albrecht Hestermann explains, Promise’s PDM checks the quality of the drives from moment to moment by monitoring the bad block tables on the drive to see if a significant number of sectors are becoming damaged. “The system recognises that it is possible that this drive will become defective in a short time,” he says. “Then they stop writing on this hard drive and begin writing to the hot spare and copying data from the faulty drive. And so you over jump a possible rebuild process.” Promise is also an advocate of iSCSI which enables cameras to communicate directly with storage devices such as RAID, bypassing the server and thus saving on server processing time. iSCSI (pronounced eye-scuzzy) is an abbreviation of Internet Small Computer System Interface, an Internet Protocol (IP)-based storage networking standard for linking data storage facilities. iSCSI can be run over long distances using existing network infrastructure. iSCSI is being implemented in the CCTV industry. In what it claims is a first for the industry, Bosch’s Dinion IP camera supports iSCSI. As Hestermann explains, “Bosch is managing cameras and storage from a

INTRANSA

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central point. They have a management software where you are not only supervising the cameras but you have the capability to manage all the systems in a special way… These cameras have the ability to speak directory with the storage systems… This is very intelligent because if you have 1000 cameras, they don’t all have to go through the PC and are not using any server resources.”

VMS for the masses

Another storage developer, Intransa Inc based in California, decided to concentrate on the video surveillance market three years ago, seeing CCTV as having special needs when it comes to hard disk storage. CEO Bud Broomhead explains that his company aims to bring advanced video management systems to the CCTV market, a task that has been complicated by the fact that installers of CCTV are more comfortable with analogue CCTV than IP cameras and software. Intransa builds digital video surveillance systems with the video

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Advanced servers and storage in a simple, affordable package

INTRANSA, THE VideoAppliance company, is an industry leading provider of green, affordable and reliable solutions for video surveillance, industrial video and other physical security needs. The company’s award-winning IP solutions are customer-proven to be easy to manage, dependable, and affordable with outstanding performance and reliability. And since the VideoAppliance is set up in five minutes or less and replaces commodity servers and storage (two for one) with a single appliance, it saves time and money, too. Just as all DVRs or cameras aren’t identical, video retention systems differ greatly as a result of their design, architecture and components. IP technologies are new to many physical security and other video users, and storage for video retention and playback has traditionally been an afterthought in many solution designs. In addition, security departments are forced to deal with an ever growing variety of system configurations and related support challenges. This results in part because commodity server and storage hardware is designed for IT workloads such as email and word processing, not for non-stop video recording and playback. This often leads to system sizing and configuration errors, with long term negative impact on overall system performance and reliability. Compounding the challenge, commodity storage design assumes frequent system tuning and ongoing maintenance. When that doesn’t occur, system performance degrades and may fail alto-

gether. Combined with low performance hardware, these commodity systems often prove to be a poor choice when protecting people, facilities and investments. These challenges and issues are easily solved with the Intransa VideoAppliance, due to its patented and proven, physical security-designed Video Data Management and Retention (VDMR) technology. Intransa products enable security departments and installers to do more with less. Each system is based on VDMR technology and delivers a simple, powerful and affordable physical security system that is designed to meet the latest IP surveillance needs and extend the life of existing CCTV systems, while delivering a hybrid, future-proof mix of existing analog and new IP-based technology. VDMR addresses CCTV needs and the unique needs and requirements of physical security users and applications. It blends advanced server systems with integrated, scalable storage in a simplified, affordable package that is easy to install and operate. The result is that VDMR technology enables Intransa VideoAppliance to deliver complete, risk-free solutions to the CCTV and physical security market. VideoAppliance solutions outperform commodity servers and storage, while reducing cost and operational challenges. Intransa leverages its knowledge, experience and expertise to help suggest, develop, empower and deliver industry strategies, standards, commitments, education and initiatives.

April 2010

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Digital storage management software pre-loaded which the end-user can then activate by purchasing a license from the software vendor. Having started out as a storage company, he is keenly interested in the storage element of his systems. They use RAID 5 and RAID 6 with built in alerting systems to notify the users of problems with the storage or the cameras. He feels that the traditional IT industry underestimates the challenges of video surveillance by assuming that video data is just like ordinary corporate information. But it’s not, so Intransa wrote video optimisation software which streamlines both the storing of data and its retrieval. “It provides for a very efficient read operation,” he said. “When you playback, it is reading sequences at a time rather than gathering chunks from all over the place and trying to play them in sequence.” It also streamlines the data writing process, he says. “If you don’t understand what happens to your storage when megapixel cameras of a certain brand are used with a VMS of a certain brand, at certain settings – if you don’t understand those behavioural characteristics of your system under load, then you are not delivering what you need to deliver,” Broomhead says.

Inappropriate content

If the other two manufacturers were fans of RAID systems, Veracity believes they are “totally inappropriate” for video surveillance. Alastair McLeod, managing director of Veracity, says RAID 5 is going out of fashion even in the IT industry. He points to a quote from Val Bercovici, director of technical strategy at Network Applications, a leading storage application company, who said, “using RAID 5 systems today without additional backup verges on professional malpractice.” McLeod goes on to claim that while RAID 6 addresses some of those problems, by adding an extra safety disk, for video surveillance applications it doesn’t really do the job. “It’s a band-aid on top of a band-aid,” he says. “When a RAID array fails, many IT managers can afford to take the

MEETING THE CHALLENGE

array offline while it rebuilds because they can afford to have duplicate arrays,” he says. “But with video surveillance systems, you tend to have a limited number of arrays and one copy of the data… But you’re thinking you’re OK because it’s RAID 5 and you can afford to lose one disk.” McLeod says the solution that Veracity has come up with is to redesign the storage array from the ground up with video surveillance in mind. “It turns out by a simple approach you can get enormous benefits for video surveillance,” he claims. Veracity’s solution is called COLDSTORE. Using an approach called LAID – Linear array of idle disks – Veracity writes to a series of disks one by one. “We store it sequentially because it is highly suited to video. First, we only switch on two disks at a time. We write to mirrored pairs of disks, as it is the write process which uses causes failures. But we don’t require double the number of disk because we overlap the pairs as we write, leaving behind a secure copy of the data, switched off and preserved. However, leaving behind two copies of each set of data is another option.” Recording on LAID is like recording to videotape, says McLeod. You fill up one disk and then start filling up the next. If you want a specific time sequence, you go back to a specific disk and look at the footage on it. Veracity has developed its own sequential disk filing system. There is no directory on the disk – a fact which will mean something to IT experts more than anyone else, but basically it reduces the possibility of a catastrophic failure of a disk due to corruption of the directory. Data is written strictly sequentially such that the read-write arm of the disk moves imperceptibly slowly across the disk like a vinyl record player, removing all traces of vibration. If there is a disk failure, the system immediately stops writing to that pair of disks and starts on the next two, ensuring you preserve the disk with a safe copy of the data. Yet another wrinkle in the digital storage debate and one that is sure to keep people debating what technology is fit for purpose and what’s destined for the digital scrapheap.

Promise’s approach to optimising data storage for CCTV

THERE ARE SEVERAL challenges facing those organisations who install and manage CCTV set-ups. The growing demand for more cameras and the lengthening time that images need to be retained are fuelling a corresponding increase in demand for data storage. And in these tough economic times, this type of capability has to be delivered without breaking the bank. It’s imperative that data storage systems are as simple to operate as possible, offer the maximum level of flexibility and provide customers with levels of storage that would have been dizzyingly high just a few years ago. Promise Technology offers all of the above. The company draws on more than 20 years experience in data storage and with that experience comes an understanding of what customers are looking for. The company’s products offer the possibility to use SATA hard disk drives coupled with iSCSI technology, offering a cost-effective and convenient storage system. The company has a range of solutions for all types of customers. This starts with entry level support for 16 cameras offering capacity of 4 to 8TB. For example, the SmartStor NS4600 desktop storage systems offers iSCSI connection to network attached storage (NAS) system via a standard 1 Gb/s Ethernet interface. Up to 16 concurrent iSCSI sessions are supported. For larger CCTV installations, there’s the VessRAID storage system, which offers a quad iSCSI interface to a standard Ethernet network. The system supports up to 64 cameras via a data transfer speed from 200 MB/s upwards, while there’s a data storage capacity that can be

scaled ranging from 12TB to more then 100TB. But even with these high level systems, it’s not difficult to manage the storage capability. By just using a simple connection link, the user can call on the full power of the system through the use of multipath I/O capability contained standard server operating systems (such as Windows Server 2003/2008). Multipath I/O combines the data streams over all four iSCSI interfaces. What’s more, the system doesn’t require any special cabling – it operates by using industry standard Cat 5e and Cat 6 cables. One of the most attractive aspects of Promise Technology’s solutions is that the company doesn’t sell RAID systems with factoryissued hard drives. The products are resold by a network of experienced and highly proficient resellers who can ensure that the products are specifically tailored for the individual needs of the customers – meeting the right capacity at the right price point. It’s this additional touch that helps Promise Technology CCTV customers know that their system will meet the demand.

April 2010

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Opinion

Beneﬁts of mobile CCTV Anti-CCTV lobbies always seem to omit or fail to mention the benefits of CCTV. An excellent example of how it can benefit a large number of the population is when it is used on public transport. Stewart Payton of Transport CCTV Solutions offers his perspective IN MY TIME with a large public transport organisation and in my current role as consultant to the industry, I have seen many security and insurance benefits of CCTV. Added security from CCTV is a major factor in the reduction of assaults, malicious damage and criminal acts on vehicles. I remember an incident which featured an accusation of indecent exposure by a female passenger against a male traveller on a bus, The event was reported to the operator and the police. The CCTV evidence was downStewart Payton loaded and the police identified the male. As a result the perpetrator was apprehended. The biggest benefit however is the assistance the CCTV gives in the battle to reduce insurance claims costs. In view of the current financial climate, making a false claim against a public transport operator seems in many people’s eyes a target to make easy money. However, many fail to take account of the CCTV on vehicles. Buses can have up to 16 cameras in operation. The position of these cameras gives an overall coverage of the inside and outside of a vehicle, targeting areas such as the stairway, the rear of the saloons, both upper and lower, the front and rear of the vehicle and down the side of the bus. These camera positions are excellent in disputing road traffic collisions and staged accidents which are now regarded by both insurance companies and the police as being one of the main areas of falsified claims in the UK, be it from the full coverage of the external cameras or injury claims from the internal cameras. It is suggested that approximately 30 per cent or more of whiplash injuries are either fraudulent or exaggerated. Excellent examples of the above are explained in detail from recent court cases. Billows v Riley, heard in the Liverpool County Court: The Claimant was a passenger on a bus when it was struck by a small vehicle driven by the Defendant. The Defendant was uninjured and there was little damage to the vehicles. Medical and engineering evidence could have been obtained; however the key issue in reality was the CCTV evidence. While this

viewing CCTV evidence it was discovered he was not even on board the bus at the time of the crash. In court, the 58-year-old man admitted that he wasn’t on the bus at the time of the accident. The bus company was successful in defending itself against the attempt to gain injury compensation and the man withdrew his claim for personal injury compensation, but the bus company wanted to prosecute him for his fraudulent attempts to extort money from them. As a result of the ruling, he had to pay the legal bill to the company, which amounted to £2,700.

Faked collision

During my time working with a large public transport organisation, as an Insurance and CCTV Manager, I was involved in a case where the company saved £43,000 because the CCTV on board the bus showed a collision involving a third party vehicle at traffic lights which was proven to be fraudulent. The claim submitted by the third party was for vehicle damage, hire charges and five whiplash injury claims, although it was interesting to see that there were only four people in the car! The CCTV images from the external cameras showed the third party overtake and pull in front of the bus and deliberately brake at the traffic lights that were on green. For a number of years now public transport operators have invested in mobile digital video recorders (MDVR) and this investment is ongoing. MDVRs give many benefits including increased security to both staff and the public and help to assist in the reduction of insurance claims costs. An added benefit offered by many of these systems is the telematic information the MDVR can now obtain from the engine management system of the vehicle which includes many aspects of the driver’s performance. With this information operators can identify risk which can lead to a reduction in accidents, fuel costs and wear and tear of the vehicle, along with making their staff better drivers. All major public transport companies in the UK including FirstGroup, Arriva, Stagecoach and Go Ahead invest heavily in MDVR systems and the benefits should far outweigh the costs. If the operator has the correct internal setup and follows simple guideThe claimant said he was injured in the crash, but after viewing CCTV evidence lines related to the Data Protection Act, they should see a very quick return in showed some occupancy displacement there was considerable doubt their initial investment. One disputed whiplash claim will pay for a least one MDVR. It has to be considered that not only does the as to whether this was sufficient to cause injury. Despite this, a claim was presented by a passenger – a postman CCTV system dispute insurance claims, but it also acts as a wonderwith a pre-existing back condition, which potentially made him ful deterrent to potential perpetrators. Two of the most popular MDVRs in the public transport industry more susceptible to injury. Nevertheless, the claim was defended as the CCTV indicated that are the Proguard supplied by 21st Century Technologies PLC and the the Claimant had not been displaced as much as was suggested to TransVu manufactured by AD Group. Other MDVRs are available. the medical expert during the medical examination and was insufficient to cause the injury alleged. The Court agreed, and accordingly • Stewart Payton assists a number of manufacturers and integrators of mobile CCTV as a consultant. He previously worked for a large the claim was dismissed with costs. In another case, a man from Northern Ireland admitted that he had public transport organisation for 11 years as an insurance and CCTV made a fraudulent claim for personal injury compensation following manager. Previous to this he worked for a number of motor insurers and solicitors over a 14 year period. Stewart can be contacted at a bus crash. The claimant said that he was injured in the bus crash, but after transportcctvsolutions@sky.com or Tel. +44(0)7903-230179.

it was discovered he was not even on board the bus at the time

April 2010

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We offer targeted solutions based on research and experience. Please call Ian Hall now on 07545-610708 or email: i.hall@perpetuitygroup.com Perpetuity Researc h & Consult ancy International (PRCI) Ltd 1 48 U pper New Walk · Leices ter LE1 7QA · U nited Kingdom www.perpetuitygroup.com /prci prci@perpetuitygroup.com Tel: +4 4 (0)1 16 222 5555 Fax: +4 4 (0)1 16 222 5557

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CCTV Research

Security in schools

Prof. Martin Gill discusses the implications of his research SCHOOL SECURITY is an emotive issue, it is something that concerns everyone, and not least of all parents. Yet, there has been a notable lack of research on parents’ perceptions of school crime and the effectiveness of responses to it. However, my colleagues and I have been involved in a study to explore the views of parents. It involved a web hosted survey which generated 1,000 responses. There is no doubt that parents prioritised staying safe at school. Indeed, they Martin Gill rated this as more important than four other government Every Child Matters outcomes, namely ‘Enjoying and achieving’, ‘Being healthy’, ‘Making a positive contribution’, and ‘Achieving economic wellbeing’. Perhaps the most positive finding is that overall, most parents were confident that their child was safe or very safe when at school, although parents of primary school children were more confident in their child’s safety than those of secondary school students. And while parents were generally satisfied with school security measures some still held specific concerns. For example, 59 per cent were concerned about bullying and a further 40 per cent mentioned cyber bullying specifically. In all, 40 per cent were concerned about intruders on school premises and this was the only type of crime listed where the proportion of parents of primary school children worried was higher than that of parents of secondary school children. There were some specific concerns about pupils, including about carrying knives (39 per cent); about them threatening someone with a weapon (37 per cent) or using a knife against someone (36 per cent). Rather less, but still a significant minority, were worried about pupils carrying a gun at school (26 per cent). Substance misuse is rarely far from people’s worries when young people are concerned, and about a third of parents were worried about drug dealing at school (34 per cent) and alcohol use (32 per cent). We asked parents about their experience of the victimisation of their children at school, and it highlighted some significant issues which merit further attention. For example, 60 per cent of parents reported that their child had been verbally abused, and 45 per cent reported their child had been pushed, shoved, grabbed or slapped. Parents’ reports of a pupil verbally insulting their child occurred more in secondary than primary schools (64 per cent and 56 per cent respectively). On the other hand parental reports of incidents where a pupil pushed, shoved, grabbed or slapped their child occurred marginally more in primary schools (47 per cent for primary and 42 per cent for secondary).

Response to crime

Table 1 lists the various types of programmes parents were aware of in their school, some of which may not be the types of measures that are typically associated with security, including wearing uniforms. But, it is a reminder that security takes many forms, and that good security is integrated into mainstream processes. As can be seen 48 per cent of parents reported that security cameras were used to monitor the school. Equally, 48 per cent of parents reported that all incidents of crime and disorder were recorded (and in earlier research with teachers a similar percentage answered in the same way). Eighty one per cent of parents believed that recording all incidents of crime and disorder would be effec-

Table: Percentage of parents aware of security measures in place in their child’s school Security measures in place

Yes

Require pupils to wear uniforms

88%

Require visitors to sign or check in

79%

Enforce a strict dress code

75%

Prohibit all tobacco use on school grounds

73%

Control access to school buildings during school hours

72%

Control access to school grounds during school hours

54%

Record all incidents of crime and disorder

48%

Use one or more security cameras to monitor the school

48%

Provide school lockers to pupils

35%

Require visitors to wear badges or picture IDs

35%

Require staff to wear badges or picture IDs

27%

Close the school building for most or all pupils during lunch

16%

Provide telephones in most classrooms

15%

Police in and around the school

15%

Random/ unannounced searches

11%

Provide two-way radios to any staff

10%

Require pupils to wear badges or picture IDs

Security guards in and around the school

Provide personal attack alarms for staff

Perform random sweeps for banned items but not including dog sniffs

Perform one or more random metal detector checks on pupils

Require one or more random dog sniffs to check for drugs

Require visitors to pass through metal detectors

Require pupils to pass through metal detectors

Require drug testing for pupils

tive in reducing crime. It is a cause of concern that less than half of those involved in schools believe that they have an accurate record of crime and disorder incidents; this is a very poor base on which to monitor crime and think about appropriate security measures. It should be noted that one of the most interesting outcomes was the proportion of parents who did not know which specific security measures were used in their child’s school. High levels of ‘don’t know’ answers were given when parents were asked whether a range of different security measures were in place. One of the Children’s Plan 2020 goals (April 2008) is that parents should be satisfied with the information and support they receive. Efforts made to address the level of information parents receive about security measures could help to accomplish this goal. In response to the level of effort spent addressing crime and the fear of crime by the child’s school, most parents felt it was at least adequate. It should be noted however that more than one in ten parents believed the level of effort was less than adequate. One in five parents was not confident in the school’s ability to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour. Parents’ confidence fell where their child had been a victim. There are important lessons here for all those who help fight crime, not least in the reminder that reducing victimisation is key to reducing fear. CCTV operators have a role to play here. • Martin Gill is Director of Perpetuity Research and Consultancy International (PRCI), m.gill@perpetuitygroup.com; tel. 07740-284286. Research sponsored by TAC. ‘TAC School Security Report: Survey of Parents’, by Charlotte Lawson, Katy Owen, Kate Broadhurst and Martin Gill. July 2009. Further details from c.lawson@perpetuitygroup.com.

April 2010

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Talking Shop

Are we being misled? Talking Shop is our regular, critical look at CCTV, co-authored by Colin Greene of CMG Consultancy, Simon Lambert of Lambert & Associates and Peter Whettingsteel of MFD International. In this issue, Simon Lambert offers a personal view of the marketing industry MARKETING AND advertising people. You either love ’em or hate ’em. Let’s have a show of hands. How many CCTV users love them? Hmm. I think that leaves us with only one conclusion, and it’s not looking good for the peddlers of piffle. For a long time people have been aware that consumers – the great unwashed, you and me – have benefited from the law of the land which makes it an offence for advertisers to mislead people who, as a result, might buy their stuff. At the same time many think that business peoSimon Lambert ple (you and me in our CCTV endeavours) are not protected this way and that the somewhat harsh ‘caveat emptor’ is all that applies: ‘buyer beware’. Well, advertisers and marketers quake while customers rejoice! In a country that’s seen almost one new criminal offence introduced for each day of the past decade, here’s something you might like to be aware of: “The Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008”. Throw that into Google if you want it word for word. With the caveat that I’m not a legal adviser, here are some paraphrased snippets that might bring joy to a CCTV audience. The upshot is that advertising which is misleading is prohibited. Being a little more specific, if it is likely to deceive traders and consequently to affect their buying behaviour or injure a competitor, it breaks the law. And just who are these poor unsuspecting ‘traders’? They are any person acting for purposes relating to his trade, craft, business or profession. Isn’t that you and me? Hallelujah.

O PERATION CCTV

So, how might an advert be deemed misleading? The specific factors that leap out from the Regulations are these: • The product’s specification • The results to be expected from its use • Its fitness for purpose. Given the tosh that we often see in adverts, some are going to be cause for concern lest their creators get their collars felt. Let’s amuse ourselves by illustrating with some examples. No names, no pack-drill. Even as far back as the days when a new catalogue-shopping tome meant us techie types could look forward to a quick frisson from flicking through the shower fittings pages, we also noticed in the section on home entertainment (the other sort) that television screens didn’t show real pictures but had a much clearer photo of a tropical beach superimposed over them. Why? Surely to make the display look better than it does in the real world. Even “simulated picture” in tiny print nearby doesn’t fully mitigate the disappointment that the buyer risks. The address to which this television will be delivered is somewhere in the real world; unlike the minds of the advertisers responsible. The CCTV industry still sees these adverts too. Why? Is their tat aimed at fools? Blatant misrepresentation of the truth in order to influence potential buyers. Let me use the words of someone who’s now reached full ranting speed. “And another thing…” What’s all this with camera suppliers brazenly using multi-megapixel digital photographs in an effort to illustrate how effectively their wares identify wicked shoplifters in the act? Why not show us the real image from the analogue camera (PAL is much lower resolution at ~0.4 meg-

Councils ﬁght back against anti-CCTV lobby

FOLLOWING the highly credible report from Big Brother Watch, reported in the last edition of this magazine, that “there are, like, way too many CCTV cameras in the UK, you know”, local authorities are resorting to desperate measures to convince the public that CCTV does, in fact, have a use. New signs with an updated message (pictured right) are being trialled by local authorities across the country. It’s still early days but officials are confident the campaign will be a success after numerous residents were heard to comment: “So that’s what all those cameras are for...”; “We should’ve known they had our best interests at heart...”; and “It’s not a waste of money after all!”

April 2010

Picture: Simon Lambert

Following the successful trials, the new style of signs will be rolled out across the country on the day before Good Friday, just in time for the annual Easter Egg riots.

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apixels) video? Heck, go the whole hog with the generous marketing budget and shoot it from a realistic ceiling height rather than inexplicably from eye level. Not difficult. Why do they go to the trouble of feeding buyers an unrealistic expectation of the results they’ll get? I think we can work that out for ourselves. Advertising people are infamous for not letting truths get in the way of their campaign’s fantasies. More worryingly, the companies that employ these advertising ‘creatives’ sign off their work for publication. Another travesty that really gets my goat: DVR suppliers whose advertising guff uses Photoshop to degrade an image into something coarsely pixelated and then claim that this is the result you’re getting from your old VCR. This completely misrepresents the quality of normal VCR footage, even if multiplexed. To insult your intelligence further they have been known to take a leaf out of the aforementioned camera supplier’s book of illusions and go on to illustrate the wonderful improvements that their machine brings you by showing a photograph in place of the compressed samples of analogue video that you will really get if you buy it. Shall I leave for another day the apparent capacity for megapixel cameras to see a purse being pinched in a wide crowd scene with such astounding clarity that the manicure of the thief’s nails is a wonder to behold? Yep, let’s.

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So, I venture to suggest that some advertisers might be breaking the law. You might well have wondered too. The regulations state that the Office of Fair Trading and local weights and measures are to enforce the law. Maybe it’s about time we caused a stir when we see these things rather than just tutting and turning the page. Remember a key phrase: “The results to be expected from its use.” The CCTV world is rife with disappointments felt by end-users, be they the owners, police, or the public in the footage itself. This largely stems from incorrect expectations in the first place. How much of this is directly influenced by prior misrepresentation of its capabilities? If we have the guts to say something and get real from this point forwards, we can change this sorry state of affairs because it affects the reputation of this industry which we know is under threat of severe cuts. A better reputation may increase support and save many people much agony. Hire a truly technical independent consultant to help avoid these problems. You’d expect me to say this, wouldn’t you, but that doesn’t make it any less a very wise move. Either way, if you’re not sure about your suppliers’ claims, ask them if they are aware that their marketing material might be breaking the law. Some will exit rapidly stage left with an “Err, can I get back to you on that?” Let’s use this to raise standards for the whole business.

April 2010

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Industry News Reasons to visit MAXXESS at IFSEC

Among the many reasons why visitors to IFSEC should make their way to the MAXXESS stand H20 in hall 4 will be: • Version 5.2 of eFusion, a software platform which allows installers to effortlessly integrate access control with badging and CCTV systems. eFusion incorporates the most extensive library of video integration protocols available. • An advanced family of eMAX Mercury controllers including the new EP1501 ‘edge ’controller. • An industry-unique eMAX Mercury controller which can control wireless locks. • New OSDP (Open Supervised Device Protocol) access control readers which offer bi-directional communications to monitor a reader’s status and the real time control of text displays. “In addition to the above innovations, we are planning to unveil a number of other surprises which we are keeping under wraps until IFSEC 2010,” says Lee Copland, Managing Director of MAXXESS Systems EMEA. Tel. +44(0)870-234 7654 • www.maxxess-systems.com

Wireless CCTV launches 3G Mini Dome

Wireless CCTV introduces its smallest ever all-inone remote access surveillance dome, the WCCTV 3G Mini Dome! Fully packed with all of Wireless CCTV’s Queen’s Award-winning surveillance technology, the latest 3G Mini Dome is much smaller and lighter, while offering all the functionality of its predecessors. Weighing less than 3kg, with a 500 GB internal hard drive and battery power options, this truly is the most versatile WCCTV Dome yet. The 3G Mini Dome camera system offers high-speed 3G HSUPA connectivity. Users are able to connect remotely, and access live or recorded video from the internal hard drive. The evidential quality footage can be viewed in dedicated monitoring stations, or can be accessed using laptops, desktop computers and hand-held devices. Tel. +44(0)1706-631166 • www.wcctv.com

GJD develops new Detector Alarm Alert Module

Advanced Independent Monitoring urgently needed to review the increasing level of nuisance activations received in their Remote Video Response Centre (RVRC). By utilising new technology, like GJD’s D-Tect3, which incorporates both PIR and microwave sensors, monitored CCTV was made more cost-effective on each site. Following the success with the D-Tect3, AIM approached GJD to help resolve an industry wide problem. The difﬁculty was to identify when faulty detectors were permanently in alarm or where an active beam had been blocked. By working together, AIM and GJD developed a new concept – the Detector Alarm Alert Module (DAAM). This system continually monitors the condition of the alarm inputs, providing either a local indication or an alert at the RVRC if the system integrity is compromised, when the CCTV system is in either a set or unset condition. This ensures that customer’s do not leave their premises vulnerable to malicious attacks. Tel.+44(0)1706-363998 • www.gjd.co.uk

KBC Networks adds Crockett International founders to executive team

Avigilon designs, manufactures and markets award-winning high definition (HD) surveillance systems. The performance and value leader, Avigilon solutions protect and monitor thousands of customer sites in over 50 countries around the world. Avigilon megapixel cameras, together with the world’s first HD network video management platform, deliver full situational awareness and actionable image detail. Campuses, transportation systems, healthcare providers, public venues, and manufacturing sites with security, safety validation and compliance requirements all benefit from improved response times, evidence, and superior overall protection. In 2009, Avigilon won Frost & Sullivan’s HD Surveillance Company of the Year award. www.avigilon.com • sales@avigilon.com

Synectics hits global security Top 50

Award-winning CCTV command and control equipment manufacturer Synectics Security Networks, has achieved inclusion into ‘Security 50’, A&S magazine’s yearly ranking of manufacturers’ worldwide product sales across the security industry. ‘Security 50’ represents security industry leaders from multiple product categories including Video Surveillance, Access Control, Biometrics and Intrusion Detection. After several months of data collection, A&S magazine present their annual results as part of an overall report on the health and future of the security industry. Inclusion in the top 50 worldwide security companies underlines Synectics’ position as a leading provider of electronic surveillance products, with a comprehensive range that includes SynergyPro and Synergy Pro VMS command and control solutions, e100 H.264 range of video servers, d100 decoders, and MDRS and eDVR enterprise-class storage solutions. Synectics products provide the ultimate integration to third party products, ensuring ﬂexible and high-performance surveillance networks across a variety of applications. Tel. +44(0)114-255 2509 • www.synx.com

Bold Communications introduces SMS TextAlert

Bold Communications, one of the leading providers of fully integrated security monitoring software, has added SMS TextAlert Module in its technological breakthrough – Bold Gemini alarm management software. The SMS TextAlert Module enables the user to receive and transmit text messages to the Bold Gemini alarm monitoring system from any standard mobile phone. The SMS TextAlert uses the ordinary single GSM SMS service for transmitting messages from the Bold system to the mobile phones. The signal strength and availability of network will decide how reliable and fast the communications would be. The system can be used to communicate with up to 25 users at a time. The SMS TextAlert Module is designed to beneﬁt the growing number of Gemini users, having already been implemented by a rail network company and a London Borough. Tel. +44(0)1925-245599 • www.boldcommunications.co.uk

Hard disk drives – a miracle of technology

KBC Networks, provider of high-performance ﬁbre optic, wireless and network transmission products, has announced that John Crockett and Brent Douglass, the original founders of Crockett International, have joined KBC to lead the company’s worldwide strategic growth. Mr. Crockett joins KBC as CEO and Mr. Douglass as Director of International Marketing. Together, the pair brings more than 40 years of global experience in the security industry, along with an unparalleled track record of success in over one hundred countries across the globe. "John and Brent are well known within the industry for their impressive record in international business" commented Iain Deuchars, President of KBC Networks EMEA. "Having known them both for many years, I’m looking forward to working with them to build on our success so far and to expand KBC's global position." Tel. +44(0)1622-618787 • www.kbcnetworks.com

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Avigilon solutions monitor sites in 50 countries

Hard disk drives in digital video recorders, used in modern video surveillance, can be compared with “top athletes”. A hard disk drive in a standard PC is probably operating 8 hours a day, 200 working days a year and its capacity utilisation only amounts to 3%. Security applications have a capacity utilisation of 99.9%, information is stored on the hard disk drive 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. The power and accuracy of a hard disk drive can be compared with a plane flying at 8,000,000kmh at a height of 0.8 mm above grassland, simultaneously counting every single blade of grass. The plane would miscalculate less than one blade of grass during a flight lasting for 1,250 flights around the earth. An impressive performance! • For more information on hard drives and storage visit www.dallmeier.com

April 2010

| CCTVImage

Industry News

Industry News Milestone releases XProtect Corporate 3.1 with enhanced GUI

Intransa VideoAppliance VA110tr

Milestone Systems, the open platform company in IP video management software, is pleased to announce the release of XProtectTM Corporate 3.1 with a significant new version of the user interface: Smart Client 5.0. Smart Client 5.0 takes usability to new levels of ease, adaptability and efficiency so video surveillance operators can demand perfection. Ground-breaking functionality like the Sequence Explorer investigation tool and independent playback significantly increase efficiency. Milestone version 3.1 of XProtect Corporate is powerful IP video management software designed for large-scale, mission-critical security implementations, supporting unlimited cameras, users and sites. It includes streamlined and optimised installation procedures and the innovative version 5.0 of XProtect Smart Client. It is available in 20 languages including online help, which extends the software’s ease of use around the world. Tel. +45-88-300300 • www.milestonesys.com

VCA sold 35,000 licenses supporting more than 200,000 video channels in 2009

VCA Technology, the leading UK-based video analytics specialist, announced that it has secured 34,803 Personal Computer (PC)-based licenses of its video content analytics suite -VCAsys - supporting more than 200,000 video channels in its first year of trading. A further 3,259 VCAsys IP licenses were sold for uploading into network cameras. One such order was a 1500 channel contract to support central traffic monitoring in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. VCAsys software can be embedded into edge devices such as network cameras, uploaded into video management and recording systems or controlled direct from a PC. VCA has been actively engaged throughout 2009 with both video management system and network camera vendors in order to integrate with their systems. Tel. +44(0)208-335 9151 • www.vcatechnology.com

Affordable and easy to use, the Intransa VideoAppliance™ VA110tr eliminates the complexity and risk of buying, installing, configuring and supporting commodity servers, storage and hardware while delivering the benefits of advanced IP surveillance. Uni-Mode VA110tr replaces one application server plus storage, and Duo-Mode appliances eliminate two servers. VA110tr comes with the choice of a leading video management system (VMS) application, pre-loaded and ready for activation on a simple-to-install media kit. A Duo-Mode VA110tr provides one VMS application and one server/ storage mode. Tri-Mode appliances add a second VMS application mode for maximum flexibility, such as one for recording and one for live viewing. Intransa VideoAppliance systems are designed exclusively for non-stop, 7x24x365 video workloads, unlike the commodity servers and storage that are typically used for email, word processing and other IT applications. Tel.+44(0)1285-868500 • sales_uk@zycko.com

TeleEye reveals ﬁrst high-def video surveillance solution with HD SMAC-M multi-stream coder

TeleEye Group, a pioneer in advanced video surveillance, has developed an end-to-end HD CCTV solution. It provides great images, wider views and video recordings for the most demanding surveillance applications. The solution consists of MX Series HD CCTV cameras, HD sureREC Recording and sureSIGHT HD Video Management Solution. MX Series HD CCTV camera incorporates HD SMAC-M video coder, the world’s ﬁrst multi-stream coder for HD video. It allows simultaneous HD video recording and fast video transmission via LAN, ADSL or mobile networks. The MX Series HD CCTV camera records HD video with a 16:9 aspect ratio. With a resolution over 800TVL, it provides ultra-high resolution video quality. And with progressive scanning, TeleEye MX Series HD CCTV creates images with less distortion and jaggedness. Tel.+44(0)1628-776061 • ukinfo@TeleEye.com

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“Make sure they can ﬁnd you.” * This opportunity is available to CCTV User Group members only. For more information, call Jack or Nick on Issue sponsor April 2010 01543-250 456 or email them @securitymediapublishing.com. Rates subject to change. Copy subject to approval.

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CCTVImage

| Directory

Directory of member companies Companies listed are members of the CCTV User Group. Membership indicates a company subscribes to the ideals of the CCTV User Group, and are committed to upholding the highest standards. CBC (Europe) Ltd Tel. +44(0)20-8732 3300 Fax +44(0)20-8202 3387 Email: info@cbcuk.com www.cbceurope.com

802 Global Tel. +44(0)118 940 7240 Fax +44(0)118 981 1214 Email: sales@802global.com Web: www.802global.com

CBC is a multi-national company. We manufacture the Computar and Ganz branded CCTV products. The Computar brand is associated with Lenses (optical products) and the Ganz brand with electronic products, cameras, domes, housings, DVR’s, VCR’s, monitors and IP/transmission equipment. Our goal is to be the ﬁrst choice for CCTV buyers.

802 Global are wireless products specialists delivering a full range of wireless CCTV solutions including backhaul links, re-deployable cameras and networked storage and control room systems. Working with CCTV integrators, we have an enviable track record of delivering wireless IP CCTV solutions resulting in signiﬁcant cost and efﬁciency savings for public and private sector organisations.

CCTV Training.com ltd Tel & fax: +44(0)1252 678589 Email: admin@cctvtraining.com Web: www.cctvtraining.com

Altron Communications Equipment Ltd Tel. 01269 831 431 Fax 01269 854 348 E-mail: comms@alton.co.uk Web: www.altron.co.uk

We now have more to offer than you think! CCTV SIA Licence training, Managers level 5 Diploma in CCTV management award. Mobile CCTV Hire to assist with your local system or provide CCTV for local events. Advice on CCTV management, refresher training for licence holders and muchmore! Contact us now and see how we can make a difference!

Altron are the leading manufacturer of Poles, Towers, Columns and Bracketry for the CCTV industry. Backed by the very latest technology in design and manufacturing facilities Altron are ideally placed to meet all your camera mounting requirements.

ANPR International Tel. +44 (0) 8706-206206 Fax +44 (0) 8706-205205

Chris Lewis Fire & Security Tel. +44 (0)1865-389828 Fax +44 (0)1865-782400 Email: sales@clfs.co.uk Web: www.chrislewisfs.co.uk

Email: Sales@anpr-international.com Web: www.anpr-international

Our CCTV design and installation experience spans single camera systems to full surveillance suites for university campuses and town centres. As an independent installer, we can advise on the most appropriate technology, legislative requirements, codes of practice and guidelines, as well as providing Level 2 CCTV operator training.

ANPR International is a company driven to provide innovative, reliable and cost effective automatic number recognition (ANPR) technology solutions for a cross section of applications including parking management and enforcement, security, access control, average speed surveys and trafﬁc monitoring.

Chroma Vision Ltd Tel: 01892-832112 Fax: 01892-836651

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Email: sales@chroma-vision.co.uk Web: www.chroma-vision.co.uk

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Chroma Vision Limited provides design, installation and support packages upon all CCTV and control systems, using in-house labour. Our unique approach to Account Management allows us to provide a high level service without the high price tag.

ClearView Communications Tel. +44 (0)1245 214104 Fax +44 (0)1245 214101 Email: sales@clearview-communications.com Web: www.clearview-communications.com

Bosch Security Systems Tel. +44 (0)1895-878 088 Fax +44 (0)1895-878 089 Web: www.boschsecurity.co.uk Email: uk.securitysystems@bosch. com

Design, manufacture, install and service integrated CCTV and security systems for Police, Local Authority and Commercial clients. Expertise in Digital CCTV recording, wired and wireless IP systems, re-deployable GSM, 3G and intelligent video, integrated security management systems, control room design and forensic analogue and digital CCTV demultiplexing.

Bosch Security Systems offers a complete line of CCTV products including videa cameras, autodomes, monitors, digital recorders and IP video systems.

Broadland Guarding Services Tel. +44(0)1603 484 884 Fax. + 44(0)1603 484 969 Email: info@broadlandguards.com Web: www.broadlandguards.com

Make sure they can find you

CCTV CONTROL ROOM MANAGEMENT: Broadland Guarding Services are a long established provider of CCTV Control Room Management and Monitoring Services carried out by vetted, trained, licensed and uniformed Personnel. Working in Partnership Towards a Secure Future.

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April 2010