D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 2 / J A N U A RY 2 0 1 3 2 4 w w w. p o l i c e p r o d u c t i n s i g h t .

c o m
M
ajor municipalities in the
US are heavily investing
in city-wide high-tech
surveillance systems that
are a giant step ahead
from old analogue tech-
nology. Linking up these high-resolution
CCTV cameras via a citys wireless net-
work using internet protocol (IP) software
allows the surveillance product to be
shared by multiple agencies.
The exblLy o Lhese open archLecLure
systems also means that other sensors and
lLers can be added Lo Lhe neLwork, nclud-
ing the possibility of a high performance
acal recognLon algorLhm, whch would
allow law enforcement analysts to target
surveillance with a much greater precision.
New York City has been investing heavily
in upgrading its surveillance capabilities;
for use by law enforcement and homeland
securLy agences. Earler Lhs year, New York
Police Department Commissioner Ray Kelly
and Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced
a new Domain Awareness System for the
central Manhattan area. It features live
vdeo eeds, daLabases o recenL crme
patterns and can take input direct from
Lhe eld n real Lme va Lhngs lke 11
calls or police radios. All the information is
presented visually and geographically and
n chronologcal conLexL.
hccordng Lo loomberg, Lhe Lechnology
was built on the NYPDs long-term focus
on the security of some of New Yorks high-
esL-prole areas. Lhe nancal dsLrcL and
midtown Manhattan. The new system uses
Lhe cLy auLhorLys secure, hgh-speed wre-
less broadband neLwork, as well as soLware
developed in co-operation with Microsoft.
The sysLem enables ocers Lo n-
sLanLly assemble, analyse and respond
to information streaming in from a wide
range o sources, ncludng closed-crcuL
camera networks and mobile numberplate
readers and radaLon deLecLors, as well as
law enforcement databases. Investigators
can now, or example, vew lve vdeo
from a crime scene while simultaneously
integrating that with other important in-
ormaLon, ncludng records o calls made
Lo 11 and reporLs on relaLed crmes n
the area.
OuLsde ManhaLLan, Lhe NYPD and oLher
local law enforcement agencies hold thou-
sands o oLher xed CCTv cameras. Many
are CrmeEye unLs, suppled by ToLal kecall.
Each has aL leasL Lwo cameras, an onboard
dgLal vdeo recorder Dvk), baLLery backup,
a web server, and wreless connecLon. The
cameras can have image sensors of up to
2 megapxels and hold Ops vdeo or
beLween ve and 1 days.
F A C I A L R E C O G N I T I O N
The company told Police Product Insight at
the International Association of Chiefs of
Police (IACP) conference in San Diego in
SepLember, LhaL L has agreed a jonL ploL
wLh CognLec Lowards Lhe end o 2O12 LhaL
will combine its surveillance cameras with a
facial recognition system to monitor visitors
to the Statue of Liberty.
The FaceVACS system is able to compare
acal mages rom derenL sources wLh
those stored in multi-million image data-
bases. Usng Lhe sysLem, operaLors can vew
match lists with the most similar identities.
They can also use examner Lools and lLers
to enhance images and compare them side
by side. As a tool for law enforcement the
system is designed to identify suspects
rom waLch lsLs, creaLe new maLch lsLs and
search for missing persons.
STRENGTH
IN NUMBERS
Internet protocol surveillance systems are allowing agencies
to connect a host of disparate assets into a huge network
that can be accessed from anywhere. By Gary Mason
I
S
T
O
C
K
P
H
O
T
O
D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 2 / J A N U A RY 2 0 1 3 w w w . p o l i c e p r o d u c t i n s i g h t . c o m 2 5
S U R V E I L L A N C E
A Cognitec spokesman told PPI that the
latest version of the system had a more
powerful algorithm. In a demonstration us-
ng conerence vsLors, Lhe sysLem was able
Lo maLch hLs n a vareLy o derenL con-
dLons, ncludng varaLons n background
lighting and in the angle of the facial image.
It was also able to achieve hits on partial
aces where, or example, Lhe LargeL was
partly obscured by somebody else. These
are the type of challenges that have tradi-
tionally compromised facial recognition as
a tool in crowded public spaces.
This could make it useful to homeland
security in spotting people who may be
planning a terrorist attack. The spokes-
man sad. The dea behnd a Lral aL Lhe
Statue of Liberty is that it would help law
enforcement and intelligence agencies
spoL suspcous acLvLy. So, or example,
most tourists would only visit the site once
but if the system was able to show that
the same person had visited the site four
times during one week then that may be an
indication of suspicious activity.
n an area Lhe sze o New York, a survel-
lance system that delivers this level of so-
phistication would need to have ownership
by more Lhan one agency. TransporL polce,
local law enforcement and border protec-
Lon ocers would all have an nLeresL n
viewing the content and comparing it to
their own watch lists.
The New York Police Department has
installed a Domain Awareness System in
the city featuring live video feeds, and
real time input from 911 calls.
D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 2 / J A N U A RY 2 0 1 3 2 6 w w w. p o l i c e p r o d u c t i n s i g h t . c o m
I N T E R N E T P R OT O C O L
Only an IP-compliant system would be able
to meet this need to share surveillance with
multiple remote clients who can plug into
the system from virtually anwhere.
This was the subject of a presentation at
Lhe hCP 2O12 conerence by rad hnder-
son o OnSS, a company LhaL has helped
city authorities implement IP surveillance
systems in a number of areas in the US.
IP video provides better situational
awareness and better information on the
beaL, he Lold delegaLes. L also provdes
better evidential value. It is more cost
eecLve Lhan analogue CCTv sysLems.
You can only run so much cable. With IP
surveillance you dont have to build a lot
o exLra nrasLrucLure. You can use Lhe PCs,
servers and storage capacity you already
have to run it. You are not having to build a
mainframe system to run your surveillance
operation.
He also says it is very easy to grow an
IP surveillance network from a starting
point where there may be only one or two
cameras hooked up to a server or PC to
having multiple cameras plugged in to the
same user.
WO R K I N G T O G E T H E R
The City of Orlando in Florida has had an
P survellance sysLem snce 2OO8. The CLy
o Orlando Polce DeparLmenL, Lhe Orange
CounLy Shers DeparLmenL, Lhe conven-
Lon cenLre, Lhe arporL, Unversal SLudos
and the Walt Disney World resort all want-
ed to share their surveillance assets. They
sLarLed sharng only 17 cameras, whch
were all derenL makes and models and
unded rom derenL revenue sLreams.
The scheme now has 1O hgh-res cam-
eras covering the city and Orange County.
L wll grow quckly Loo, says hnderson.
When we sLarLed wLh Lhe sysLem, Lhe
neLwork was already Lhere Lhey had bre
optic cabling all over the city.
In cities where agencies want to share
Lher survellance asseLs, Lhe sysLem s
probably gong Lo have Lo run o mulLple
networks. This is another area where IP
has Lhe advanLage, accordng Lo hnderson.
P can operaLe rom anywhere, he says.
Local neLworks, n vehcles or over Lhe
internet. You can source video footage from
anywhere and manage it from anywhere.
ocers are auLhorsed Lo be connecLed
to a camera in theory they have the ability
to use that surveillance asset from virtually
anywhere.
Ths also exLends Lo gvng non-P agen-
cies access to the system that IP-compliant
agences are usng. For example, Lhe cLy
of Minneapolis is using an IP surveillance
sysLem, so are Lwo deLenLon cenLres n
Lhe area and Lhe courL house. However,
Lhe local 11 call cenLre was noL hooked
up Lo Lhe same sysLem, buL operaLors sLll
wanted to be able to share the surveillance
asset. The City of Minneapolis then acted
as Lhe hosL o Lhe vdeo and Lhe 11 cenLre
became the remote client.
Anderson says the question he is asked
most often by law enforcement agen-
cies is whether IP would allow them to
search through surveillance footage more
ecenLly Lhan analogue sysLems. He
says Lhere are Lwo man beneLs. The rsL
is through a straightforward search tool
or a specc objecL or subjecL n a long
sequence o ooLage. For example, durng
Lhe ve-day hCP conerence, aL some ponL
a red carpeL was rolled ouL nLo a specc
area o Lhe ganL exhbLon hall. Usng Lhe
evenLs P survellance sysLem, hnderson
was able Lo pull up Lhe exacL momenL Lhe
sLrp o carpeL was puL down wLhn 1
seconds of starting the search. The second
tool provides the analyst with a system
of alerts. An IP system will provide the
operator with a series of alarms whether
LhaL s access conLrol, or a permeLer ence,
or changes in temperature or activated or
deacLvaLed lghLng, he says. P sLands
or nLerneL proLocol, buL L also sLands or
nnLe possblLes.
He says a system of alerts on any modern
surveillance system is essential because a
person canL monLor OO cameras aL Lhe
same Lme. They canL even eecLvely
monLor ve aL Lhe same Lme, he adds. P
brings the alert to a blank screen.
vdeo s jusL daLa, buL L needs Lo be
stored properly. IP lets you keep a lot of
vdeo evdence and exporL L and encrypL
L when necessary. WLh P you can, or ex-
ample, manLan a chan o cusLody record
very easly, says hnderson. Ths also means
a police force could use IP to maintain a
vdeo lbrary, he adds.
Moving command and control from
location to location is also possible with IP
video surveillance. With IP we have broad-
ened our capabilities of what we can do
in the command and control centre they
dont have to be stationary any longer. An
additional command centre can be set up in
another location as quickly as a commander
can get their laptop up and running on the
network. A handful of cops with commercial
o Lhe shel monLors can seL up a ull scale
command and control centre.
IP networks are also able to run the type
o hgh-res megapxel survellance cameras
that law enforcement and intelligence ana-
lysLs need or evdenLal and denLcaLon
purposes. This also translates into fewer
cameras for better coverage. The combi-
nation of high-quality images and cameras
LhaL can pan 18O degrees, or example,
have n recenL years, broughL down Lhe cosL
o P survellance sysLems dramaLcally,
according to Anderson. z
You can source
video footage
from anywhere
and manage it
from anywhere
7KHGXDOFDPHUDXQLWVDUHOLQNHGE\LQWHUQHWSURWRFROWRFUHDWHDH[LEOHQHWZRUN
S U R V E I L L A N C E
I
S
T
O
C
K
P
H
O
T
O