printer friendly version

Town policing transformed by IP CCTV

South Africa’s towns and cities generally lag behind those in Europe and North America when it comes to CCTV surveillance and policing.

However, as more and more major local cities - the Johannesburg CBD, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, for example - reap the rewards of deploying technology to improve the security of their citizens and property, so too will smaller centres begin to evaluate the possibility and effectiveness of these systems.

But, one of the questions those in charge of running small towns may ask is, "Does a sophisticated CCTV system really have a role to play in those communities with very low populations?"

The answer, according to Sergnano in northern Italy, is 'Yes.' Sergnano has a population of just 3000 and employs only two law enforcement officers to police the town. Even so, a complete IP video solution from IndigoVision, represented in South Africa by Norbain, has helped transform these men's effectiveness.

Police commander Marco Cattaneo says that the new IP CCTV system has allowed the police department to better manage its human resources and to achieve greater control of the territory around Sergnano. It has enabled them to cover a much larger area, reduce vandalism and respond more quickly to incidents and crime.

The cost effective solution was the key to the success of the project. There was no existing CCTV system to build upon, so the new system had to be installed from scratch and provide cover for an area of almost 13 square kilometres.

The system comprises 11 dome- and fixed-cameras, which monitor areas such as the primary school, kindergarten, public buildings, cemetery and town square. Control Center, IndigoVision's IP video and alarm management software, is used by the police officers to view live and recorded video from any of the cameras. The combination of Control Center and the IP network creates a 'virtual matrix', which is very flexible and highly scalable, allowing cameras to be located at any point on the network.

Recording is achieved with an IndigoVision network video recorder (NVR) installed at the police station. High-quality evidential video has already been exported from the system to help prosecute and investigate several crimes. Each camera is connected to an IndigoVision 8000 transmitter/receiver module that converts the analogue camera feed into DVD-quality MPEG-4 digital video for transmission over the network.

The transmitter/receiver modules have a number of advanced built-in features such as actively controlled framerate (ACF). This analyses the camera scene and reduces the video framerate during periods of inactivity to reduce the amount of video that is transmitted and recorded over the network.

Installing traditional analogue CCTV technology for the entire area would have been too expensive for a small town like Sergnano. IndigoVision's solution was installed on a combined wired and wireless network, allowing remote locations to be cost effectively monitored.

The system has been so effective in reducing crimes such as vandalism that the Sergnano Police Department estimates that the system paid for itself within 12 months.

Share this article:

Further reading: