Hi-Tech Security Solutions asked Rudi Wolter, project manager at Business Against Crime (BAC) and Warren Myers, CEO of Myertal Tactical Security what factors they believe contribute to a successful CBD/city surveillance project.
“Fundamentally, an urban CCTV surveillance system consists of three very important elements: design, installation and operational plan,” says Wolter. “This entails a proper design based on the operational needs; a well installed technical system based on all the codes of installation and SANS; and a well-developed operational plan, which includes all relevant stakeholders with a desirable response capability to all incidents identified in the initial operational requirements analysis.”
Myers adds that a thorough understanding of the client’s operational requirements will ensure that they are met on a technical and procedural level. “Once you have identified the best technology for the project, a stringent rollout plan needs to be put into place and will include delegations and timelines.
“The most important document within the scope of the project is the service level agreement (SLA), which covers all aspects of obligation and maintenance. You need to ensure that all terms and conditions of the SLA are met in terms of checks, priorities and procedures. This will ensure that once the technology has been implemented the maintenance requirements will be kept to a minimum.”
According to Wolter, the primary goal of a CBD surveillance project is to create a ‘safe zone’ where the cameras are deployed. “The criminals do their own risk assessment of an area to assess the likelihood of them being apprehended so they quickly learn that it would be stupid to commit crimes in these areas so they then opt to go somewhere else where the risk of apprehension is lower.”
The secondary goal is to use the CCTV system to maintain the area under surveillance. “By using ongoing surveillance, you are able to stop infiltration by undesirable elements. This goal also entails the general upkeep of civil infrastructure within the area of surveillance. All responsible directorates and property owners could be provided with footage on an audit basis to maintain the area under surveillance,” Wolter adds.
Planning and design
Myers said that since all applications are different in terms of size, layout and specific requirements, the plan for each would need to be different. “You need to ascertain up front what the goals of the system are. Then you need to visit each intended camera location and determine exactly what each camera will be contributing to the system. Once you know what these goals are you can match the camera to the location in terms of zoom capabilities and lux.
“You also need to find out where your power supply is coming from; is it long range or short-range? Next is your network. What planning is in place in terms of the location, the speed of the network and whether it is cable or wireless communications? Cabling can be very expensive and requires extremely careful forward planning whereas wireless is more flexible but you do need to ensure it has an adequate bandwidth speed to allow for high quality image recording,” Myers clarifies.
“Ultimately it is critical to know what equipment is available within the specified budget then ensure that you are not undermining the desired quality of the system. Some compromise may be necessary in terms of fewer cameras in order to maintain quality levels.”
Myers said that it is important not to over-promise and under-deliver in terms of technology. “By offering your client various options and discussing optimal scenarios with them, you will lay the foundations for a sustainable system.”
Wolter said that for the City of Cape Town project in 1998, a footprint was developed where an operational requirement analysis was used to evaluate the existing crime patterns and, together with the relevant role players, a master plan was devised based on operational needs. “This master plan entails the first phase of sweeping the area and the necessary responses to the incidents as contemplated in the operational plan design.
“The operational requirements analysis will lead you to the design phase of the system. This is where it is critical that the technology decided on must be able to deliver to the operational model. The CCTV system must be designed with the operational model as a priority rather than from a technical mindset. It is the operational manager that needs to operate the system for the next few years after the technical people have installed the system,” Wolter cautions.
People power
Myers is adamant that if you ensure the correct intellectual property is present in the design and planning stages, your project will succeed. “It is critical to ensure that the people who will be operating the system after the installation is complete are up to speed on the operation, capabilities and limitations of the system. Training plays a major role in the ongoing success of the system and should be a top priority to ensure conformance.
“One way of ensuring this success is to employ a team that is responsible for all facets of the project, from conceptualisation, installation and handover to physical monitoring of the system as part of the municipal/city surveillance team,” he says.
“The third element of a CCTV solution is the operational side. This is where the CCTV system is supported by various staff. Their effectiveness is dependent on how well the system was designed and installed,” says Wolter. He believes that there should be four main components to staffing of a CCTV a system:
Operators, Supervisory staff, operational decision makers, management and administrative staff. Responsible for the recording of incidents and trends, as well as the overall CCTV system effectiveness, and response units to incidents generated via the CCTV system.
“Operators should have the necessary aptitude to effectively deal with the large amounts of footage generated and have the ability to understand the entire configuration of the operational plan. They need an ability to read body language and to understand the population they are working with, together with being street wise. They also need to be able to read the signs of an incident before it actually happens and act to prevent it happening,” says Wolter.
“The supervisory staff make the decision to respond to an incident that has been brought to their attention via the operators. The supervisory staff is, however, reliant on the responding staff. Many different elements can be utilised to respond if the operational plan has made provision for it. Many times this is the downfall of the entire CCTV solution. The absence of responding timeously or even responding at all indicates to the criminals how much time they have available to commit crimes.
“Any blockages and deviations should be managed by the managerial staff. They are also responsible for the upkeep and betterment of the system. Administratively they should also make sure that the system at all time subscribes to the three elements of design, installation and operation.
“The monitoring of the trends/incidents and liaison with other stakeholders is a managerial responsibility. The responsibility for fostering and maintaining good stakeholder relationships is of paramount importance.”
According to Wolter, the response team is a critical element of the staff complement. “The professionalism of these responding units will ultimately yield the fruits of a well-designed and installed CCTV system. Effective communication and a sound relationship between the control room supervisors and the response units make the CCTV system worthwhile.”
Regulating the industry
“The past 14 years have shown that where there are deviations and non-adherence to the basic principles of CCTV design, it ultimately results in a problematic and costly CCTV system,” says Wolter.
He comments that experience has shown that, in general, people design CCTV systems from their own perspective and even convince the paying authority that their tender/proposal will provide a CCTV solution. “There seems to be a tendency to make use of cameras in situations that demand more than the cameras’ realistic capabilities. This results in poor quality footage which, over time, causes the system owners and operators to lose faith in the CCTV system.
“Many CCTV systems do not comply with the industry-proposed South African National Standard (SANS) and installation codes. The principles in the CCTV Industry Standards Booklet, that was produced by Business Against Crime, are in general not utilised by the service providers. It would seem that, due to the absence of proper guidelines in this regard, the so-called designers of these systems follow their initiative and benchmark their own design, ignoring the fundamental principles of the desired picture quality described by the Rotakin formulas,” notes Wolter.
Wolter cautioned that the implementation and installation of the system must be done according the existing wiring code and national standards for the industry. “Any deviations should not be accepted and should be rectified prior to accepting handover of the newly installed system. A general lack of adherence to these codes and standards is prevalent due to non-enforcement and lack of knowledgeable people.”
Wolter says that although the Rotakin Target has been in the CCTV industry for a long time, it has only now become a measuring tool whereby the outcome of CCTV systems can be determined and certificated. In South Africa, a company called CCTV in Focus has obtained the right to use the Rotakin Kit to design and certify CCTV systems in future. Hopefully the legal fraternity and policing agencies will make this an acceptable measurement for the police and courts.”
Challenges
Myers says that if the planning and design is undertaken in a smart way, challenges should be kept to a minimum. “Power supply and wireless networks probably pose the greatest challenge to any CBD surveillance project – it is important to have the correct throughput and speed for adequate video quality. By having a watertight SLA in place these items should have been anticipated and resolved before they had a chance to become issues.”
Wolter agrees that planning is critical. “There seems to be a total lack of understanding of the need for a proper operational requirements analysis. This analysis becomes the cornerstone of how the CCTV system should be configured to be able to deliver the desirable result and hoped for outcomes.
“Most clients rely on consultants to provide a CCTV solution on a deterrent basis. Their understanding of their own operational needs is sometimes lacking, resulting in a CCTV system which becomes a deterrent tool rather than an auditing tool to maintain standard operating procedures. In addition, due to a lack of adherence and non-compliance to any standards, because of non-policing, this industry is profit driven with little respect for the client’s operational needs.
“Each camera in the system should operationally deliver the desired outcome as contemplated in the operational requirement analysis and the design of the CCTV system. If the operational outcome differs from the operational requirement analysis and the design plan, management must review the situation in order to achieve compliance of the CCTV system with the operational needs.
“The truth is that the urban CCTV systems have moved away from the fundamental design, installation and operating principles. There is an absence of an operational requirement analysis and an integrated master plan, ultimately resulting in an inadequate operational plan,” Wolter concludes.
Epping success story
Myertal Tactical Security is responsible for the phased rollout of the surveillance system in Epping in the Western Cape (the full case study can be found in the November issue of Hi-Tech Security Solutions as well as on securitysa.com).
Warren Myers says that the installation of the cameras in Phases One through Three has been trouble-free. “It was necessary at the outset to determine where the most critical areas of surveillance were since the budget allowed for only a handful of cameras in the first phase. This was a little challenging due to the fact that there are a multitude of entrances into Epping.
“Following that determination, we had to ensure that the control room, which is situated 5 km away from the industrial estate, had a strong wireless network to ensure high quality recordings.”
Continuous communication with the client forms the backbone of system success. “We ensure that the Epping clients receive a 12-hourly report on each shift’s incidents, with relevant video footage. In addition, a monthly report provides them with information on the most critical incidents.”
Myers says he cannot emphasise enough the importance of forming an enduring partnership between suppliers and clients in this respect. “In many instances, the owners of the surveillance system do not really know what they need. It is vital that suppliers/integrators provide sound advice and options in the early planning stages. Once you have reached agreement on the most suitable system, the service level agreement (SLA) becomes your first and last point of reference.”
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