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The top issues in CBD surveillance

Tips to consider in a CBD surveillance project.

According to Gary Johnson of Afrisec, the following guidelines should be considered when implementing a CBD surveillance programme.

1) It is pointless having the best technology in your central control room if your labour has not been properly screened and pre-checked. Appropriate training includes learning how to recognise security situations developing, interpret body language of would-be perpetrators etc.

2) You need an organised, thorough collective intelligence-gathering network. In many areas, security management decisions are based on:

* a fraction of the information required to arrive at an informed opinion on the development of security conditions on the ground,

* or incomplete information,

* or uncoordinated information,

* or incorrect information.

You might be picking up incidents on an operational level, but are these incidents stored and processed electronically as well as being analysed meticulously? You need excellent quality cameras, producing quality evidence, to be used proactively in terms of deploying law enforcement officers.

In order for a CBD surveillance system to be more proactive in monitoring criminal activity, a good intelligence and information gathering process must be in place. This includes having dedicated analysts as part of the central control room function, with access to management tools, such as electronic occurrence books and risk manager software, in order to create profiles and a database of individuals, vehicles, incidents and patterns within a specific CBD area.

3) How is the evidence you collect being handled and are the perpetrators being prosecuted? A relationship between the control room and the authorities is essential.

4) Do you have stakeholder representation in the control room? A representative from SAPS should be present in the control room at all times. While the control room may be manned by municipal employees, it is critical, from a logistical and legal perspective, to have immediate access to the mobilisation of SAPS resources for perpetrator apprehension. SAPS can also assist with the identification of hotspots for physical camera positions.

5) Your safety and security IP network should be dedicated to the street surveillance and not merely piggyback on a general municipal network. One department (like safety and security) should take responsibility for the installation, operation and maintenance of the network, thus ensuring the integrity of the system, that is, that all secured units talk to (are integrated into) the central control room.

6) Municipal budgets are constrained in terms of surveillance systems. Businesses should be encouraged to invest in the further development of surveillance systems in order to reap the benefits of an integrated safety and security programme.

7) Traditionally the primary focus is on CBD surveillance. However, this footprint should be extended to the suburbs and townships in order to alleviate crime where it originates.

8) A mobile surveillance vehicle or trailer should be available as a backup or complementary service to your static cameras. These units are ideal where funding of sufficient static cameras is an issue or where surveillance is used at specific events only.

9) CBD surveillance networks ideally should have the capacity to incorporate existing surveillance cameras from private business premises and other government buildings, all linked to the central control room.

10) With Eskom load shedding, price increases and the theft and vandalism of ferrous and non-ferrous metals ie, copper cables, aluminium, and drain covers etc, this has led to the supply of power becoming a risk factor to CBD surveillance systems. Therefore, it is essential that backup power is installed on the network for each camera position and at the central control room, in order to maintain system uptime.

The use of renewable energy resources like solar and wind-generated power has become essential, incorporated into the CBD surveillance system design in order to counter the issues of non-reliable power and copper theft for strategic camera positions.

11) The integrity of a CBD surveillance system and infrastructure needs to be maintained in order for other security stakeholders ie, the South African Police Service, the Public Prosecutor, to be confident that the electronic information, ie, video images that are captured and transferred on the surveillance system, is protected and reliable for evidence purposes in a court of law or criminal case.

12) Last, but by no means least, the majority of CCTV control rooms do not have a code of practice. This is a document to ensure that CCTV systems are used effectively, fairly, purposefully and responsibly. The code of practice is a guide to operators, supervisors, managers and installers in terms of their responsibilities and duties. A code of practice is designed to reassure the public and security stakeholders that the CBD surveillance system is being managed, installed and maintained correctly. The objective of a code of practice it to help ensure that good practice standards are adopted by those who operate, implement and maintain the CCTV system, otherwise it will provide only a false sense of security to the citizens the system has been set in place to protect.

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