Where Have All The Night Watchmen Gone?

One rarely hears the term night watchman anymore. But up until the 1980’s, this was the name today’s security personnel answered to.The common image of a night watchman was a man, keys jangling on his belt along with a whistle, as he made his rounds through a deserted facility, following the lonely beam of hisflashlight. Advances in technology have all but retired his (or her) flash light but these same advances have added to the requirements and knowledge needed to become a night watchman, oops, a security officer.

IP Cameras Call for a Tech-Savvy Breed of Security Officers

Today’s organizations and institutions, whether they hire their own security personnel or contract with a security agency, are turning to IP technology to expand their security.

What this means for security guards, especially those in supervisory positions, is that they need to have a basic technological understanding of and familiarity with IP cameras, monitors, video management software, PCs and servers. And since the world of technology expands constantly, they need to keep abreast of changes.

Many organizations are also seeing a subtle blending of IT and Security operations. Let’s take a look at three specific sectors.

Hospitals

How ironic is it that hospitals, places that provide care and healing are also experiencing a surge of violence and theft?  But think about it - a hospital provides fertile ground for both.

• ·         Emotions can run high in crowded Emergency Rooms, accelerated by long waits and tight quarters.
• ·         Upstairs, frustrated  relatives seek instant answers to questions that rely on lengthy testing.
• ·         Back downstairs, the pharmacy, although under lock, and with access procedures in place, offers temptation to trespassers, or even employees with a drug habit or in need of money.

Having to monitor all the corridors and departments of a hospital presents a challenge. Ye Olde night

watchman would have needed to expend a lot of shoe leather. Today, thanks to the remote connectivity offered by IP networks and Video Management Software (VMS), today’s guards can monitor it all from the security desk.

Department Stores

In the watchman era, a plainclothes “store detective” might wander the floors all day, posing as a browsing customer.  Today’s theft  prevention officer can view live camera feeds from the women’s department,

housewares, toy department, cosmetics, and menswear without leaving her desk. And in the case of a large chain with many locations, thanks again to network connectivity and VMS, the corporate security officer at the flagship store or the company headquarters can view every one of its stores either as a live feed or recorded video.

This is possible because every IP camera has its own unique IP address, and resides on its own node on the company’s Ethernet network, just like any other device. So if a branch manager in Peoria, Illinois can  connect to the purchasing department in the corporate office in Chicago, or download an evaluation form from the flagship store in Los Angeles, the security department can use the same network to monitor sites.

Schools

It used to be that vandalism, burglary, and extensive graffiti were the major problems schools  faced.  But, for reasons, yet to be fathomed, schools from kindergarten through university, have become a destination for sick individuals bent on wiping out innocent victims.

The presence of watchmen patrolling the corridors would only add to the stress level of students. But by adding IP cameras to the school ‘s network a security officer  can sit in his office and keep careful but discrete watch over the gym, cafeteria, corridors, classrooms, parking lots and playgrounds. Should an intruder approach, security can be forewarned. Careful IP camera vigilance might also help in warding off bullying that often goes un-noticed by teachers and administrators.

Video Management Software Makes for A Safer Security Officer

The night watchman treaded on a path of uncertainty each time he made a patrol. He could never be sure what was just beyond the beam of his flashlight. 

Adding  Video Management Software (VMS)  to the IP camera system  takes some of the inherent danger and uncertainty out of the night watchman’s job, and affords the Security Officer a chance to organize and prepare for an incident as it unfolds.

What this means for today’s security officer is he/she needs to be trained on navigating the software to take advantage of its many features and options such as

Virtual Patrols

VMS allows security to “patrol” several areas at once without leaving his PC or control station. Live footage

from cameras in select locations can be viewed on one split screen monitor, each in its own little segment of the screen, or preset to scroll through the frames. This means the guards can take more virtual tours and fewer walking ones. 

·         Should a school security guard spy an open exit door in the empty gym or cafeteria on his virtual tour, he can alert another guard closer to the area while he scrolls through cameras in the surrounding areas searching for any intruders.

·         In a hospital, viewing a scene of escalating tempers might prompt the viewing officer to not only send several of his men to the scene, but also to call in the police.

·         In a shopping mall, a large gathering of youths might warrant the dispatching of several guards to the area.

Motion Detection, Cross Line Detection, and Alerts 

Cameras equipped with Cross line detection or motion detection can be programmed to automatically send an alert  to the monitoring screen. Both applications are similar in that they detect moving objects. The difference is that motion detection concerns itself with movement in a predetermined area while cross line detection sets up a virtual tripwire which when crossed by a moving object will send an alert. The officer at the  PC will be alerted when that particular camera’s viewing pane is suddenly highlighted, outlined, flashes, sounds an alert, or all four. The alert signal is programmed at set-up.

Subsequent cameras can be selected to follow the progress of the intruder, and depending on the software, the alert may automatically alert the police. Meanwhile it allows on-site staff to know what they will be facing so they coordinate and respond to the situation.

 And so today's security personnel has to be technology-savvy. Savvy leads to superior security. Not only does it make a guard's job safer but it expands his presence, and that expanded presence makes for safer facilities and businesses.

Next post we'll explore how IP-based Door Access control and IP-based Intercoms would also have lightened Ye Olde Night watchman's load.

Meanwhile, if you're interested in finding out more about how IP-based security products can make your workplace a safer place, Kintronics sales engineers are available at 914-944-3425 to answer your questions or design a system for you. Filling out a form at request info is another option.

A Facelift for the Eye in the Sky

Back in the early years of Las Vegas, casinos coined the phrase “Eye in The Sky” to characterize their surveillance operations.In those days, surveillance consisted of a few men on squares of plywood set across neighboring rafters. Armed with binoculars, they scanned the floor below for any activity that hinted of cheating. 

While you’re wondering how effective this was, I’m worrying about how many security guys fell from the rafters. Talk about a windfall.

But seriously, surveillance operations are much safer these days, and much more in favor of the casino. it’s not just the surveillance camera that greets you upon entry and those myriad others that catch you as you search for the magical machine that will make you a millionaire.  

More and more casinos are turning to Facial Recognition Technology to improve their odds against cheaters, and counterfeiters. So if you’ve been in a casino anytime within the past six or seven years, odds are your face came under scrutiny as well.

Biometrics

Facial Recognition Technology (FRT), developed at MIT, falls under the heading, biometrics. Biometrics is the science that measures and analyzes biological data. As a technology, biometrics uses these biological markers for the purpose of authenticating a person’s identity. Biometrics makes use of unique characteristics such as fingerprints, retinas, irises, DNA, and voice, speech, and facial patterns.

Biometric systems developed for forensic or authentication consist of three core components:

• ·         A scanner or reader
• ·         Software to convert the features into code and match points.
• ·         A database for storing and comparing the biometric data for comparison

FRT relies on facial patterns. Casinos use surveillance cameras in tandem with a scanner and FRT software to obtain an image of anyone they suspect of engaging in illicit activities.

So how does this FRT work?

The quick and dirty version

FRT enables users to select a frame from surveillance camera footage and extract the face from the background  for comparison to other individuals, or to be entered into a data base to be used for subsequent matching. 

The more detailed version

FRT is based on knowledge of face patterns, the various uphills and downhills that go into making every face unique. Ninety of these nodal points have been identified, the most pronounced being the distance between the eyes, depth of the eye sockets, shape of the cheekbones, width of the nose, and length of the jaw.

Most FRT systems make use of the eye area. They start with a live image captured by an

 IP surveillance camera and use an algorithm to locate the face and extract it from the background.

Next, a template of the eye area is created. After marking specific points, and measuring the distance between them, the data is translated into a unique code, and stored in a data base containing the same type of information about other individuals.

In the case of casino security, the data base stores the facial information of known card counters, cheats, counterfeiters, or blacklisted individuals who have been ejected from the premises previously.

Casinos share this information among themselves, or get it from law enforcement agencies.

FRT in Action

The Trump Casinos consider FRT an invaluable part of their casino surveillance units, telling CBS news that they first installed it at Trump Marina in Atlantic City. Three days later it enabled the casino to zero in on eight baccarat cheats.

A demonstration followed. From the surveillance room, the surveillance director sat at his computer and pointed out a mustachioed man in a San Francisco 49ers football jacket sitting at a blackjack table. He used

his keyboard to aim an IP camera, concealed in the casino ceiling. He then zoomed the lens to get a tight shot.

After freezing the frame, he transferred the man’s image to another computer monitor and typed in several category codes: white, male, 21, and blackjack.

Within seconds the computer returned 386 potential matches, displaying them nine at a time. 

After reviewing them all, no match was found, but had there been, the man would have been either escorted out the door, or watched closely until he revealed himself to be cheating, at which time he would have been arrested.

In Service to the Customer

Casinos primarily use Facial Recognition Technology to distinguish between customers who come in to have a good time while trying out their luck against the odds, and those who enter with the purpose of employing dishonest means to cheat them of their money. But more and more of them are using FRT to spot their VIPs and high rollers the moment they set foot into the building.

Databases at these establishments have taken to storing biometric data for their most frequent visitors who gamble large amounts of cash each visit. Using extremely fast responding software, hosts and hostesses are able to swoop in from the wings with an effusive welcome and to offer them whatever extra services will make their stay an enjoyable one.           

  

Privacy Issues

Privacy advocates see Facial Recognition Technology as yet another encroachment. Casinos defend the practice, pointing out that their main objective in using it is to protect their own assets while providing an even playing field for the vast majority of customers, who are honest and play by the rules.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation that oversees gambling in the Canadian province, employs a combination of IP cameras and FRT software to screen every visitor entering Ontario’s twenty seven casinos. But the Privacy Commissioner, in an interview with the Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail maintained  that “privacy is the default condition,” and assured the readership that all images of visitors who fail to match are instantly deleted.

Or as the Trump Marina’s surveillance director put it:

 "An honest person has nothing to worry about. It’s the cheaters, the people who are being watched, they have a different take in it. Their way of life is being compromised."

For more information about IP cameras and Facial recognition software call Kintronics at 914-944-3425 or visit their website to fill out a request information form.