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Turning up the heat on criminals

Due to escalating crime in South Africa, neighbourhoods are standing together in fighting crime. Timeless Technologies interviewed one of its clients, the technical advisor from a local neighbourhood watch in the southern suburbs of Cape Town to learn about their crime fighting struggles and the benefits since introducing thermal technology into their surveillance programmes.

How does the terrain of your area and the surroundings make surveillance difficult?

Criminals have slowly migrated to traversing the mountain fringes from where they penetrate into the target area and retreat back into the mountain to route out of the area. Due to the nature of the terrain and fenced off National Parks ‘no go’ areas, responses by police and security companies are hampered. Vegetation and the lack of secure power in these areas creates dark, obscured rat runs which criminals use to easily outrun follow up operations.

During what time do most incidences occur?

Most serious and violent crimes occur at night and as early as 22h00 with midnight to 03h00 being the most common for these crime categories.

According to your experience what has been the biggest advantage since using thermal technology?

Early warning of criminals on their way to commit a crime and the ability to warn residents of their presence in the area and then pass the information to the police for follow-up operations.

Criminals are evolving into efficient groups, working primarily at night and in areas obscured from local house or street surveillance systems. It’s apparent that they share intelligence about routes, tactics, fencing, alarms and how to evade or defeat counter-measures. Conventional floodlights and infrared illumination overtly placed are simply bypassed and the target penetrated due to the false sense of security that comes with bright lights.

Flir enables residents and response companies to use two tactics: First prize is to quietly mobilise, intercept and detain for questioning before they strike. This is difficult as their target in this phase is unknown and response teams would need to be on continuous standby. So one normally waits for their return on the same ‘rat run’ to detain them possibly carrying evidence of their latest work. The second tactic preferred by residents with their heads on pillows is for an immediate response into the area once prowlers are detected. These responses rarely lead to contact or arrests, but they do deflect the threat.

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