Technology holds the cure

Those readers of Security Management Today who are familiar with economic studies will instantly recognise the above comment as being attributable to Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot's 'Law of Diminishing Returns'. Further, regular readers may well be wondering what the words of an 18th Century French economist have to do with the discipline of security management?

The answer is 'CCTV Monitoring Syndrome'. In other words, a reduction in effective monitoring and event detection experienced by security personnel despite any increase in the number of cameras and screens available.

At first it seems ludicrous to suggest that an increase in CCTV cameras might actually reduce the overall effectiveness of the system. After all, new cameras generally cover previously 'dark' areas, and must surely add to the overall effectiveness of any surveillance scheme implementation? Actually, that's not the case.

Obviously, more cameras offer a wider area of coverage and the potential for enhanced detection, but in reality security personnel are being swamped by images to such an extent that they're now reaching their own point of diminishing returns – in turn leaving businesses and business premises vulnerable to attack.

Why is there a problem?
'CCTV Monitoring Syndrome' occurs because scanning screens over long periods of time scores highly on the tedium ratings chart. Even the more interesting installations – airports and casinos readily spring to mind here – still result in staff looking at screens filled with everyday activities. Each new frame looks pretty much like the last.

Historically, CCTV surveillance expertise was defined by an operative's ability to spot a potential problem and elicit an appropriate response. That was fine at a time when camera installations were smaller, implementations were fewer and further between and the global security climate was a touch more stable. Today, however, CCTV is a front line security and verification tool. One that's relied upon to prevent terrorist attacks, crime and fraud, to verify events (such as large wins in casinos) and enforce regulations like restricted access zones and 'No Parking' areas, etc.

There are also the cost implications involved with acting on – or not, as the case may be – events picked up by the cameras. Just recently, a false alarm at Denver International Airport cost the airport authority between $5 million and $6 million in losses, with three concourses having to be cleared, 146 flights either delayed or cancelled and 15,000 passengers needing to be re-screened. While you can't possibly put a price on the safety of the public, the pressures that monitoring staff have to work under are plain for all to see.

On reading the above, 'CCTV Monitoring Syndrome' is clearly a serious issue. Workloads for security staff are unlikely to decrease – in terms of camera numbers and the nature of potential threats – while the implications for missing an incident, coupled with the financial pressures of making the right call, only add to the burden.

From detectors to detectives
However, all's not doom and gloom. Technologies are now available that are helping to cure 'CCTV Monitoring Syndrome' by changing the role of security staff from detectors to detectives. Digital CCTV systems are already commonplace, of course, and have played a key role in allowing security officers to make informed decisions on incidents. By replacing tapes, such systems have enabled operators to review activity more quickly and thus make far more rational appraisals.

Digital systems have also significantly improved the quality of recorded images, delivered enhanced performance at night and – in reduced visibility conditions – cut costs of both the storage of recorded material and the cost of tapes, allowing companies to take advantage of existing cable infrastructures for computer networks to carry images between camera and monitor.

Content analytics is the next step forward in terms of technological development for digital surveillance. Software that intelligently monitors images and automatically detects potential security threats is already changing the nature of how companies – and security staff – use CCTV systems. For example, unattended baggage automatically triggers an alert on a system running content analysis software. That software can isolate individual objects, such as people and items of baggage, and then monitor their movement. An item that doesn't move for a set period of time is considered a 'threat', and the system automatically alerts security personnel, removing the need for them to 'detect' the threat themselves.

The analysis doesn't stop there, though. Modern systems allow operatives to click on the potential threat 'on screen' with the moments leading up to the alert being automatically played back (thus monitoring staff can assess the nature of the threat instantly).

Using traditional CCTV, the incident would first have to be noticed – which cannot be taken for granted – and then a decision made as to whether to immediately despatch a security officer on the ground or access the recorded tape, rewind to the incident and take a decision. Thus the benefits of using digital content analysis in terms of accuracy of decisions and costs are obvious.

The next generation of content analysis solutions will include behavioural pattern recognition, affording CCTV systems the ability to automatically spot potential suicide attempts, shop theft and the perpetrators of crime in general

Looking at behavioural patterns
Companies developing content analysis are constantly pushing the technology envelope in terms of the sophistication of the intelligence given to digital CCTV monitoring software. The next generation of content analysis solutions will include behavioural pattern recognition, affording CCTV systems the ability to automatically spot potential suicide attempts, shop theft and the perpetrators of crime in general.

Facial recognition and mapping is another technology that's in development. The quality of image afforded by digital CCTV cameras will allow security teams to capture facial images and automatically match them to databases. This technology has all sorts of applications, from crime prevention through to retail intelligence gathering and other innovative uses. The key issue here is that new technology is aiding security staff to cure 'CCTV Monitoring Syndrome' by working smarter.

More to the point, instead of having the onus of detection placed upon them, those officers involved in the monitoring process can focus on decision-making and action. Their job is to solve potential problems rather than having to identify them in the first instance.

Of course, these technologies will deliver a certain amount of automation to CCTV surveillance. There'll be many applications where the intelligent monitoring of events – an unauthorised vehicle in a loading bay, for example – means that incidents can be dealt with automatically without the need for an employee to be sat watching a screen. The software is able to send an alert via e-mail, telephone or SMS message, etc to security staff 'on the ground', further enhancing the speed at which incidents are spotted and resolved.

It's easy to become carried away with terrorist attacks and suicide bombings when you talk about security. The reality is that most businesses and organisations need to ensure their assets, people and products are secure and safe from potential harm. While airport operators, for example, have a duty to protect travellers from terror attacks, they also have a duty to employees, shareholders and the very same customers they serve to make certain that they stay in business.

CCTV can play a major part in helping them achieve that goal. Of course, such imperatives exist not just in airports but in any transport hub or location where hundreds (or even thousands) of people pass through areas that need surveillance.

Another key industry for video content analysis is the gaming sector (and, more specifically, casinos) where this technology protects against fraudulent claims, settles payout disputes and ensures staff haven't fallen prey to temptation (the theft of gambling chips being a major bugbear).

The content analysis approach also neatly avoids the contentious issue of workplace monitoring and the ethical debate as to whether members of staff should be closely scrutinised and recorded. As it concentrates on occurrences that happen under set criteria (for example, someone removing a cash bag from a controlled area), recording need only happen at those times when a probable incident has occurred, thus helping to legitimise CCTV monitoring.

Drawing a theoretical line
Using the casino example once again, a high percentage of staff theft occurs when roulette tables are empty. With content analysis software, a theoretical line may be drawn around the table, covering players' seats and the gambling chip drawer. When no guests are detected around the table, the drawer becomes an 'active zone' and any movement automatically triggers the recording function and flashes an alert on screen.

With one mouse click, the Security Team monitoring the CCTV images can quickly and easily see how and when theft occurs without the hassle of reviewing tapes or interviewing staff.