‘Big Brother’ solution to combat crime becomes standard {writer: Staff reporter}

Cities across the world, including South Africa, are increasingly making use of closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance cameras to beef up security in the inner city and other problematic areas.

The Msunduzi Municipality, which includes the city of Pietermaritzburg, may soon add the greater Edendale area to the growing number of urban environments benefiting from this ‘big brother’ technology.

A report tabled at a recent community services committee meeting states that crime statistics show there has been an increase in criminal activity in the township’s public areas.

After consultation with officers from the Plessislaer Police Station, various areas were identified where cameras would be of great assistance, with the Edendale Hospital taxi rank and the community centre pension pay point identified as the places with the greatest need.

The entire project is expected to cost more than R17 million and will take four years to complete.

Among the reasons for the necessity of the network, include the municipality’s impending metro status and the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup.

The expansion of the CCTV network last year in the City of Joburg has notched up successes within the first six months, also as a crime prevention tool.

To intensify its safety efforts, the City of Joburg has partnered with the South African Police Service and private security companies, and a strong contingent of officers, metro policemen and security guards have been deployed across the city centre.

Among the successes with tracking down criminals, is an incident where the cameras spotted a Pikitup employee loading stormwater drain covers, and selling them to scrap metal dealers.

Two arrests have recently been made in connection with cable theft, and another one related to stolen music equipment valued at R70 000.

The network, however, is not only used to combat crime. It is also utilised as a tool to monitor traffic and service delivery problems and to identify potential hazards.

After initial problems last year with some of the 260 deployed CCTV cameras regularly being out of commission in Cape Town, it was reported in August that they are now at least 96% functional.

Originally, there were problems with particularly the pilot wireless system used in Sea Point.

Eight cameras have since also been installed in Gugulethu at a cost of R3m.

But the network is still in an expansion phase, with many of the new cameras being placed in areas with high crime rates and along transport routes.

There will also be cameras on the Grand Parade, the city’s main fan park for 2010; the revamped Greenmarket Square; and on the Urban Park in Green Point.

IP video solutions are becoming the norm in many cities across the world.

It has been deployed across 17 cities in Latin America, resulting in a significant decrease in local crime.

The Serra beach area, near Vitória in Brazil, has seen a dramatic drop in crime since the local authority implemented CCTV surveillance using IndigoVision technology.

This is not an atypical situation, as other cities in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile and Mexico have found after installing IndigoVision systems.

Implementing CCTV surveillance over large urban areas is technically very demanding. Whether it is to monitor criminal activity or manage traffic, remote wide-area monitoring creates a challenging environment for CCTV systems – even more so with the high crime rates found in many Latin American cities.

What makes IndigoVision’s technology work for these applications is its MPEG-4 and H.264 compression technology.