printer friendly version

CCTV strategy and the number of operators

CCTV systems often have great expectations placed on them when initially installed. Managers and security personnel see CCTV as a highly effective tool in a crime fighting strategy.

The start of a project like this sees significant expenditure on the technical equipment and systems that will allow operation. Yet management often loses sight of the fact that one of the main purposes of the technical systems is to deliver video to operators in the control room so offences can be detected. While recorded information is also a critical part of the system, it is only useful for `after the fact' or follow-up investigation. A high percentage of video is never reviewed or even looked at. The effectiveness of the site's live surveillance is, therefore, going to be largely defined by how many camera views can be displayed and looked at. This raises the question of how many operators are required for any operation. While there is often no problem getting authorisation for expenditure of technical equipment, it is not nearly as easy to get clearance for hiring additional personnel.

Camera/monitor/operator ratios are seldom discussed seriously but have a critical impact on the effectiveness of CCTV. Having hundreds of cameras directed to only a couple of monitors with a single operator is obviously going to limit the amount of detection that can occur at any one time. In fact, it is not uncommon for only 1 or 2% of cameras at major sites to be viewed at any one time. Increasing the number of camera views displayed on monitors in front of the operator is merely going to result in reduced returns - the more monitors an operator has to deal with, the less effective the operator is going to be in picking up anything significant happening on the monitors. While CCTV is often seen as a way of reducing the levels of manpower in security, companies need to give serious consideration to how many CCTV operators are going to be necessary to get the kind of results they want.

Where a strategy is determined and backed up with personnel levels consistent with demands, the system can deliver in line with expectations. The Cape Town city centre CCTV scheme initially started by BAC and currently run by the Metro police is one of the better examples of a scheme backed up by a solid personnel presence. It has one of the highest ratios of cameras to monitors to personnel in any control room I have seen, but this has resulted in a continued high level of delivery for the operation. Designed initially for 'sweeping' the streets, management at the scheme have found the number of operators used in the scheme to be highly effective. A visit I made to the site last year with a visiting UK specialist resulted in him being highly impressed with the operation and the delivery of the results - not just in terms of numbers but in quality of detection. It was remarked that the Cape Town operation could contribute many lessons for the UK and other international operations.

Many CCTV systems are understaffed as a result of cost constraints, although the expectations on them are still high. Staffing issues can be somewhat mitigated by having a high quality of personnel operating in the control room. However, selection is often a neglected area despite significant evidence to show that choosing the right people can greatly enhance detection rates. Further, sites which have had specialist CCTV training are relatively rare. We have found with our training that it gives operators the insights into many aspects that allow them to be proactive and pick up incidents even before they occur, yet operators in some sites are placed in the control seat with little CCTV insight or awareness of what they should be looking for. These personnel end up looking only for the most obvious theft or crime indicators and are almost entirely reactive.

Surveillance can be enhanced by making the use of cameras more efficient to compensate for the lack of personnel. In this approach, cameras are used as effectively as possible by directing them towards the most important priorities. This can be done by:

* Looking at a more restricted number of people - this can be done by identifying specific high risk targets and concentrating surveillance on them.

* Looking at a reduced number of places - identifying high risk places where offences can take place.

* Determining critical times when surveillance needs to be allocated to areas or processes.

* Combining the above to match risks relating to people at certain places during certain times.

A company's surveillance strategy should determine what the manning needs are going to be. Unfortunately, personnel staffing is often a consequence of budget constraints and an unwillingness to finance expenditure on personnel. Ironically, often even more expenditure on technology is seen as a way out of the difficulties faced by insufficient staffing. Yet people make CCTV work and get surveillance results. This is not an indication that security control rooms should have a licence to go out and recruit as many people as they want. It does mean, however, that staffing should be carefully considered in the context of security strategy and delivery of objectives.

Dr Craig Donald is a human factors specialist in security and CCTV. He is a director of Leaderware, which provides instruments for the selection of CCTV operators, X-ray screeners and other security personnel in major operations around the world. He also runs CCTV Surveillance Skills and Body Language, and Advanced Surveillance Body Language courses for CCTV operators, supervisors and managers internationally, and consults on CCTV management. He can be contacted on +27 (0) 11 787 7811 or [email protected]

Share this article:

Further reading: