In the next six to seven months, Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo will ensure that the 350 high-definition closed-circuit television (CCTV) will finally be installed.
According to the Mayor, the 350 CCTVs will be positioned in strategic locations and key intersections in all the 30 barangays.
These CCTVs are sophisticated enough to distinctly spot plate numbers of vehicles. Thus, the installation of these CCTVs will not only serve as a preventive measure to avert crimes but also to improve the enforcement of traffic rules.
However, there is more to CCTVs and video surveillance than just dispersing cameras on every street corner. Positioning, effectiveness, and the legal implications of captured images must also be considered.
And of course, there is the human factor involved, and the frequent power outages.
Even in monitoring, it is not just a matter of keeping one’s eyes glued on the screen. There is what we call ‘educated monitoring’ which leads to the efficient identification of problematic incidents, and the capability for situational analysis.
In short, a CCTV is more than just a technical solution. It demands human intervention that should work to maximum efficiency.
Here in the Philippines, one seldom hears of criminals being stopped in their tracks because of CCTVs. And while banks now have security cameras, somehow, a few have figured conspicuously in police investigations of bank robberies. It could be poor maintenance of the equipment? Inappropriately-located cameras? Downright ignorance on how these cameras should be used or operated? A brownout, perhaps?
The human factor
The job of a CCTV operator includes ‘situation awareness.’ This is essentially “knowing what is going on so you can figure out what to do.”
Thus, if the CCTVs will simply function as a mere machine with no “trained eye” to see and interpret what is being shown on screen, then such installation will be an exercise in futility.
A CCTV will need someone not just to operate it but also to monitor everything seen on screen, who knows what to look for, how to interpret what is being viewed, and knows whom to report.
In short, even if CCTVs are being positioned in strategic areas, installing them would be a waste of taxpayers’ hard-earned money if no one will be available to man them efficiently and intelligently.
So do we have these people with the trained eye who can efficiently and intelligently man the CCTVs? Can we afford them?
If not, then we may avail of an alternative — the video analytics technology. This works best for large infrastructures, such as a mass transit system or a traffic system where several surveillance cameras are deployed. These installations represent a huge amount of video to transmit, view and archive, making it impracticable for a human monitor to dissect all the video recordings to detect suspicious behavior or events.
Basically, the video analytics technology enables users to manage an immense quantity of undifferentiated data that are received or accessed from various cameras, and turn them into valuable and useful information. This will turn their cameras into predictive tools that will allow them to spot problems ‘in the making’ and prevent incidents in a more proactive manner, rather than just filming the events for later investigative use.
This technology likewise minimizes manpower or security personnel required to watch multiple video monitors at the control room. It can be implemented on water as well. Any suspicious movement in a waterfront can be easily traced by the system.
Again, can we afford this video analytics tech?
What we don’t want to happen is that we’re just putting up those cameras for show — which will not deter people from engaging in criminal activities. The usefulness of simply installing cameras without the human complement in place will be confined to merely recording the events (granting, of course, there are no power outages as these cameras cannot work in a power failure).
And to merely record incidents, we can just ask after a criminal act has been consummated: Aanhin pa ang damo kung patay na ang kabayo? (What’s the use of the grass when the horse is dead?)
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Author’s email: [email protected]
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