Police Security Cameras are critical for Law Enforcement to monitor internal operations and ensure protocol compliance. Select cameras can also use advanced analytics to detect events and trigger alerts in real-time.
Visible cameras act as a deterrent and help catch criminals in the act of an offense. But some consumers worry about privacy and the potential for being forced to share footage.
The human eye is limited, but a camera network and the right analytics technology can dramatically increase situational awareness. With the ability to detect unusual or excessive loitering, a sudden change in crowd size or movement or the presence of suspicious activity, police security cameras can trigger an alert that can initiate further monitoring or an immediate manual or automated response.
The police surveillance system in Baltimore, for example, grew from five cameras to more than 500, focusing on downtown and high crime areas. These cameras are able to be accessed by law enforcement from a central control room and monitored around the clock. The city’s surveillance program is also credited with reduced crime rates and savings on police overtime costs.
Similarly, the Real-Time Crime Center (RTCC) in Winston-Salem, NC, uses a combination of gunfire detection systems and license plate recognition analytic software to monitor a network of cameras from public and private sources. These systems are able to alert officers directly to suspect vehicles that may be approaching a crime scene or have committed other offenses, enabling faster apprehension and firearm recovery.
However, while a camera network can significantly boost policing capabilities, the technology must be carefully planned and implemented to ensure safety and privacy. In the case of public cameras, residents and businesses need to be willing to share their footage with police in the event of an incident. This requires a registry that allows residents and businesses to voluntarily share their footage with police. Ring, the company that operates a popular community-based home security system, for example, offers this option, but it requires users to share all footage from a specified time period or allow police to request access to their cameras.
An open platform video management system (VMS) like Fusus provides a better solution, giving police the ability to access footage from cameras on public and private properties without having to contact residents or ask for consent. It also allows for the integration of best-in-breed cameras, sensors and analytics to provide a single joint operating view that is accessible in real-time.
License Plate Recognition
License plate recognition capabilities allow your police security cameras to scan vehicles as they pass through your property, recording the vehicle’s registration number and other pertinent information. The technology uses AI software to analyze captured images and discern legible text from footage that appears illegible to the naked eye. This can help your law enforcement team solve crimes and improve safety within your community, as it provides crucial evidence to investigators and crime prevention staff.
The camera must be positioned correctly in order to capture the license plate numbers. This means placing the camera at a point facing a choke point, a small area where vehicles move in and out regularly. It also needs to be set up at a height that allows it to be able to see the plates. Aiming for a horizontal viewing distance of about 40-60 feet is best for catching plate numbers. It’s important to note that some CCTV systems don’t have this feature, so be sure to check the details of your specific camera before purchasing.
Many communities are integrating police security cameras with license plate recognition to improve crime and safety in their communities. Supporters of this technology argue it deters criminal activity, helps with law enforcement investigations and makes it easier for police to identify suspects. However, opponents raise concerns about potential misuse and the lack of clear rules and regulations governing how data is handled and stored by authorities.
A company called Fusus is helping cities integrate their public and private security cameras with its cloud-based police control room platform. It allows municipalities to create real-time police centers and streamlined interfaces with their various surveillance streams, including gunshot detection, license plate recognition and drones. In exchange, it takes a share of the revenue generated by city-owned and privately owned cameras. This has raised privacy concerns, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation is currently collecting and reviewing documents relating to cities’ use of the system.
While some CCTV systems include facial recognition and other advanced analytics, most are not designed to identify individual faces. Flock safety cameras, for example, focus on capturing and analyzing license plate numbers to enhance community security and assist law enforcement without entering the more controversial realm of face-spotting technology.
Detection of Suspects
For law enforcement agencies, security cameras allow for the tracking of suspects, providing crucial evidence during investigations. Police can’t be everywhere at once, but these cameras give them many eyes on a scene no matter the time of day or night. These systems also provide forensic documentation that is free from bias or interpretation. Detailed footage can help to validate eyewitness statements during legal proceedings.
Cameras are available in a variety of shapes and sizes. Depending on the needs of your organization, you might choose from a compact bullet camera that fits in a tube-shaped body or an IP network camera with a dome shape that blends into its surroundings. Many surveillance cameras use LED illumination to record in low-light conditions. Others can capture infrared light or a thermal image based on a person’s body temperature.
Some of the latest technology allows police to use software to mine CCTV images for information. This enables them to create a searchable database that can cross-reference suspect photos from government surveillance and private security cameras as well as images from bystanders’ smartphones. For example, during the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013, investigators sifted through images from security cameras around the city, cell phone photos and regional booking and arrest pictures. The result was a quick identification of the suspects.
While this new technology adds value to surveillance, it poses a threat to people’s right to privacy. Police surveillance is often accompanied by a collection of sensitive, personal information that can be retained indefinitely. This is especially true of the Fusus program, which connects to a range of other high-tech surveillance tools and can be used to track and target people with no real or alleged criminal concerns.
In addition to traditional CCTV cameras, some organizations are using more high-tech options, such as facial recognition software and drone programs. These innovations enable law enforcement to track people and vehicles even more accurately. The resulting cache of data can be extremely valuable during investigations and prosecutions, but it is important to balance this power against citizens’ rights to privacy.
Evidence Collection
As the police are working to improve public trust, it’s important that they maintain their own high levels of accountability and transparency. One of the ways that they can do this is to use security cameras in their stations and throughout the community. This will allow them to capture footage in the event of an incident or dispute and demonstrate that they are following protocol.
The ability to capture video of incidents will also allow law enforcement to make quicker decisions in a crisis situation. This can be vital in ensuring that the right people are sent to the right locations, allowing them to respond quickly to incidents, preventing further harm or damage.
Having a clear record of a crime allows law enforcement to build a stronger case in court, and can lead to higher conviction rates. This type of evidence is more compelling than eyewitness testimony, which can be subject to memory lapses and other factors that may influence the outcome of a trial.
In addition, the ability to use video to identify suspects can greatly improve the odds of catching them and prosecuting them. This is because it can be more difficult for criminals to evade capture when they are on camera than if they are not.
Using a camera registry program can provide police departments with a powerful new tool for capturing this type of evidence. These programs can be set up with private citizens who are willing to grant live access to their security cameras to the police for law enforcement purposes. The police can then view, monitor, and download any footage captured by these cameras. The privacy of those recorded by the cameras is protected, as the access granted to the police is on a voluntary basis.
As more communities implement camera registries, it will become easier for police to leverage this data to improve public safety. As the network of private cameras grows, it will provide investigators with countless hours of pixelated breadcrumbs to follow, making it harder for criminals to escape capture. When it comes to establishing the legality and legitimacy of this video evidence, best practice dictates that all data should be encrypted and securely logged with a digital evidence management system (DEMS). This can help protect transparency, accountability, and privacy while providing a strong audit trail.