S e c u r i n g t h e e v e r - e v o l v i n
Exploring how councils can expand city-wide surveillance
C
ities around the world are growing at an astronomical rate. According to the World
Health Organisation (WHO), one hundred years ago, two out of every 10 people lived in an urban area. Today, more than half of all people live in a metropolis, and by 2050 this will increase by 70%. While most of this growth is expected in cities of developing countries, established cities are still feeling the effect of urbanisation.
As a city expands, so do its adversities in trying to protect communities against street- level crime, infiltration of illegal arms and substances, gangs and terrorism. In order to become more proactive at deterring and detecting these threats, more cities are turning to advanced security technologies and looking for ways to share information across agencies, facilitate collaboration and improve response.
While adopting the latest in IP video surveillance, access control, automatic number plate recognition (ANPR), video analytics and
other systems may seem like the best action plan, most cities are budget-strapped and struggling to fund security system expansion that will keep up with growing city boundaries.
To compensate, cities are considering more cost-effective approaches to evolve their city security:
• leveraging existing investments with an open architecture video management system (VMS);
• leasing video and security monitoring services to public and private entities; and
• implementing out-of-box unified platforms over the once-revered Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) system.
Each of these is explored further below:
Taking advantage of open-architecture platforms
Choosing an open architecture platform is one the most important tactics in ensuring city-wide investments remain future-proof. Most cities already have significant
investments in video surveillance technologies and are not prepared to undergo a complete ‘rip and replace’. Instead councils are seeking open-architecture video systems that allow them to incorporate their existing analogue or IP cameras and easily upgrade devices over time.
Open-architecture systems also avoid locking councils into specific vendors or devices, giving them complete freedom to choose the devices that best suit their applications or budgets. This applies to server and storage infrastructure as well, where cities can leverage city buying power with computer or other technology providers to procure these necessary components for less.
Open architecture also facilitates third-party integrations with other security systems such as ANPR on roadways, access control in public facilities, video analytics systems, gunshot detection systems, intrusion detection systems and much more. Consolidating multiple systems under one platform helps cities achieve better situational awareness, and thus improve decision-making and response efficiency.
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www.wilsonjames.co.uk 0845 606 3106
30 © CI TY S ECURI TY MAGAZ INE – SUMME R 2014
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