Video monitoring’s proactive nature and broadened capabilities are driving ‘real world’ services for the industry to offer — with results that are getting attention.
When video surveillance footage helped lead to the capture of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, supporters of video surveillance emphasized its value, while opponents of video surveillance simultaneously claimed it had failed. While admitting that surveillance aided in the investigation, they said it was ineffective at preventing and deterring the crime.
Enter video monitoring. Instead of passively recording video, what if analytics or an operator monitoring the event had flagged the backpacks left behind? Following the Boston Marathon bombing, New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly confirmed the city would expand its network of cameras, but more importantly, focus on monitoring the cameras as well as connecting them with artificial intelligence software so the city could act before a major crime occurred. They would use the city’s Domain Awareness System, an effort developed with Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Wash., utilizing a reported 3,500 to 6,000 cameras. This is not an everyday system or an everyday application. But the fundamental need for proactive video that provides greater safety and services is an everyday one — and multiple parties are interested.