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Protecting those that serve and protect

Publicity surrounding Colombia routinely focused on drugs, murder, and overall corruption, and the police force was not immune to it. Deaths from altercations with drug lords, serious injuries from frequent rioting and with numerous reports of police brutality, the Colombian authorities could not continue to sit idly by.

With incidents taking place all over the country and suspected corruption within their own ranks, the police department craved answers to their problems stemming from mistrust and violent criminals. In parallel, vehicle sales in the country grew by over 50% and traffic violations and accidents were becoming an epidemic. The necessity to monitor police officers and the events they were called to became apparent to everyone involved.

Cracking down on crime

Colombian officials concluded that the best course of action would be to install video surveillance systems in police vehicles across the country. The police department required the systems to support three to four cameras, stream live video over cellular networks, even from areas without 3G coverage, and allow for a panic button.

In their search for a suitable system, they found the SerVision MVG400. The MVG, a four channel mobile DVR, offered more than the police department’s basic requirements.

After conducting a successful pilot in select police vehicles, the government of Colombia agreed to purchase 700 MVG 400 systems to be used in vehicles across four different districts. Luis Alejandro Galvis from Union Temporal La Curacao, the system integrator responsible for supplying SerVision’s solution to the police, stated, “Installing live monitoring systems in police vehicles dramatically increased their ability to serve the citizens of Colombia, and the officers who protect it. The effects of these installations will be seen through greater safety for officers and citizens on a daily basis.”

Each system is equipped with a 3G cellular modem for live video transmission, and microphones to facilitate communication between on-duty police officers and authorities back at the command centre in Bogota. A panic button, connected to one of the MVG’s dry contacts, enables command centre personnel to receive live notifications and real-time video from vehicles in threatening situations.

In order to secure their network, the police department worked with a local cellular operator to open a private access point name (APN) which enables direct, private connections between all the MVG systems and the control centre. The private APN is reserved for use only by the police and is closed to unauthorised external connections.

Operators at the central headquarters are currently using SerVision’s SVMulticlient software to simultaneously connect to up to 144 video streams and display 16 live or recorded streams. Control centre operators can configure specific notifications to be detected and transmitted by the MVGs, and can view integrated GPS maps to track the vehicles.

Police gain trust and safety

Going forward, discussions have begun on upgrading to the new SerVision SVControl Centre. Designed for large-scale security operations, the SVControl Centre supports connectivity with up to 5000 MVGs in the field and would enable Colombian authorities to view every active stream from any control centre station. Working with an SQL database server, all recordings, events, and notifications can be automatically saved and accessed for analysis and review during later investigations. The installation of the SVControl Centre would further the country’s monitoring ability in its continued quest to end police mortalities and incidents of corruption.

As the final vehicle installations are being completed, the Colombian police authorities have already seen large reductions in lethal situations for police officers and reports of police brutality. The extensive monitoring has given police officers a greater sense of security when they are working in the field, and permits them to focus on protecting citizens and upholding the law. The Colombian authorities are looking forward to achieving further positive results with SerVision’s technology.

Graphic Image Technologies (www.git.co.za) is the local distributor of the SerVision range of products in Africa.

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