Tackling Crime, Protecting Citizens and Assisting First Responders IN COLLABORATION WITH A Frost & Sullivan Executive Brief Information and Communications Technology 50 Years of Growth, Innovation and Leadership
VISUAL SURVEILLANCE: AN OVERVIEW Visual surveillance is an essential technology within the smart city ecosystem given the need to protect life and property, while also providing greater insights to law enforcement and other emergency personnel responding to incidents. From a law enforcement perspective, effective surveillance can not only thwart potential crime, but also enables a swift and timely response. Within the context of smart city, visual surveillance involves the use of both standalone and integrated video surveillance systems that capture, transmit and record a variety of information. While the overall crime rate has continued to decline across the US, many neighborhoods within major cities continue to grapple with relatively higher crime rates. Examples include drug-related crime, gun violence and burglaries that threaten the physical and material (property) safety of citizens while also jeopardizing the well-being of law enforcement personnel and other first responders. Moreover, the recent increase in mass shootings at various sites, including schools and other public places, further strengthen the case for implementation of a comprehensive, real-time visual surveillance system that enables rapid response from law enforcement personnel. Effective, real-time visual surveillance is a quintessential tool in the fight against crime. While implementation of video surveillance has been on the rise over the past decade, many US cities are just now beginning to integrate visual surveillance systems with other emerging technologies such as gunshot detectors. This integration is designed to further equip law enforcement and first responders with real-time information on the location of the crime, the perpetrator(s), and other insights into the potential crime scene such as the type of weapons being used to carry-out the attack. NEED FOR SMART VISUAL SURVEILLANCE From a local government perspective, having access to reliable, robust, and geographically expansive visual surveillance systems is a must-have in the fight against crime. The need for a broad visual surveillance system arises from the following challenges faced by cities: Continuing growth in population in large urban areas often outpaces proportionate increase in institutional infrastructure including law enforcement. Budgetary constraints that often limit expansion of various law enforcement activities. Persistent violent crime rate, ranging from burglaries to gang-related violence in several major metropolitan areas. Increase in the number of mass shootings at various sites specifically at schools, workplaces, and other leisure-related sites and event centers that are creating new pressures on city governments to implement proactive crime control measures. Negative impact of high crime rate on overall quality of life, property values, and ability of a city to attract and/or maintain residents, businesses and other stakeholders. Need to enhance law enforcement/first responder safety through provision of timely information. All rights reserved 2018 Frost & Sullivan 2
VISUAL SURVEILLANCE COMPONENTS AND FUNCTIONS Smart visual surveillance comprises the use of four key components: Intelligent cameras Surveillance cameras have evolved from analogue to IP surveillance cameras (high-definition and infrared cameras) that provide improved quality, visibility and performance. Video management system (VMS) VMS is a management platform that lets the user view, control, and monitor real-time data recorded by the surveillance system from a centralized location or through mobile devices. Video analytics Video Analytics comprises a wide range of software solutions embedded in the surveillance systems to perform a vast range of activities, which include traffic monitoring and management, facial recognition, automatic license plate recognition, crowd analysis, privacy masking, object detection and classification, etc. Storage solutions Storage systems are devices used to store large volumes of structured and unstructured data generated by surveillance systems. Storage systems are moving towards more distributed architectures from physical storage systems to accommodate the increasing demands to store large volumes of data. VISUAL SURVEILLANCE DEPLOYMENT AREAS The deployment of smart visual surveillance systems is rather broad and includes both indoor and outdoor systems, which presents a range of implementation and management challenges to operators. For instance, visual surveillance for a government building may include both internal and external video cameras and may leverage multiple connectivity protocols. Street-based installations, on the other hand, may require more fail-safe, environmentally-hardened, equipment due to the nuances involved in maintaining such devices. The integration of visual surveillance with other public safety systems further adds a layer of intricacy to visual surveillance systems. Increasingly, video cameras have also required greater device and network security against cyber-attacks. Effective implementation, maintenance, and use Smart visual surveillance of visual surveillance requires a strong partnership between city government, video surveillance hardware, heavily relies on the software, and application vendors, and connectivity availability of a reliable, providers. Specifically, secure network connectivity geographically expansive, is mission critical in that video endpoints are often and secure network. targeted by hackers to initiate distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks. Furthermore, visual surveillance systems are bandwidth-intensive, which necessitate leveraging connectivity vendors with significant experience in deploying and managing a reliable and versatile network. 3 All rights reserved 2018 Frost & Sullivan
ANTICIPATED BENEFITS AND OUTCOMES Public safety Installation of public surveillance systems serve as a strong deterrent of criminal activity as there is a higher probability of the perpetrators getting caught. Improved law enforcement Use of visual surveillance including wearable cameras enables real time monitoring of officers behavior while also providing supporting evidence in a crime scene. Other forms of law enforcement surveillance cameras such as dashboard cameras in patrol cars also help safeguard officers safety. Enhanced situational awareness The need for law enforcement officials to have complete situational awareness in real-time is paramount to achieve effective situational management including minimizing collateral damage. Smart visual surveillance systems have the potential to provide dispatch personnel as well as first responders with a detailed overview of the crime scene thereby helping them plan an adequate response. Integration with other systems expands value proposition A smart visual surveillance system when integrated with traffic management system can help cities send real-time traffic alerts to drivers. Similarly, integration with motion detection-enabled street lighting systems can further enhance safety and security while also reducing operating costs. Greater overall quality of life Low crime rate is often a leading driver in maintaining existing population base. Similarly, lower crime rates help local businesses, schools and other establishments flourish by attracting new residents to an area. Moreover, effective crime control also reduces many direct and indirect costs for businesses and residents such as lower property insurance rates. THE LAST WORD In a smart city, visual surveillance is essential as a deterrent against crime, increase safety and security, and provides law enforcement and emergency personnel with enhanced situational awareness. Visual surveillance systems are a critical tool for citizen safety and security, while providing the city (and its residents) with additional benefits such as situational awareness, intelligent traffic management and a greater overall quality of life. All rights reserved 2018 Frost & Sullivan 4
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