Michal Lepiarz asked:




The aims of surveillance system in a school

The crimes that take place in schools are usually petty crimes, like thefts of clothes or other personal belongings, extortions of small sums of money, bullying of younger students by the older ones. But the number of more serious offenses, including battering and the crimes connected with pushing drugs also becomes a growing problem. Many people understand that even best educative measures cannot solve the problem a complex action is needed. One of efficient methods of improving safety level in a school is CCTV surveillance system, obviously decreasing the number of excesses.

The recorded events may often be the only evidence as the witnesses usually don’t want to “testify” against their schoolmates, due to fear of rejection, or in fair for their own safety. Aside from improvement of security, CCTV monitoring helps to protect the school infrastructure and equipment against vandalism, the plague of majority of contemporary schools.



Diagram of surveillance system in a school

The principles

Both education authorities and the firm designing and implementing the project should realize that this kind of extensive building/s with large number of rooms and many appurtenances, as well as financial limitations, will strongly condition the range and precision of the system. First of all - it should ensure general inspection, and only several important locations will be equipped with devices allowing for precise identification of persons.

What to monitor and how?

First of all, there should be observed all possible entries to the school area. The equipment employed in that locations should ensure unambiguous identification of entering persons. The cameras have to be put close to the entrances or be equipped with lenses having large focal length. It will guarantee that the recorded material will give detailed information on appearance of everyone who enters the school, including foreign persons.

Corridors and cloakrooms are the next places where cameras are indispensable. The cameras should be placed as high as possible - it guarantees wide area of observation (without blocking view of one person by another - it is often crowd of people there), and helps to protect the cameras against damaging.

Corridors are often long and narrow - the case requires a number of cameras. They should be arranged the way that each camera sees the next one (e.g. they are placed at two opposite ends of the corridor). It will enable recording of possible attempts of destroying the cameras.

The most arguable issue, whether cameras should be mounted or not, concerns washrooms and toilets. From headmaster’s point of view those rooms are extremely exposed to vandalism and various excesses. They are often considered by students to be smoking rooms.

Taking it into consideration, most of schools mount CCTV monitoring in there. The monitoring provides viewing of the main part of the room, but the inside of the cubicles is excluded from observation. Such monitoring fulfills the task (it is even possible to uncover a smoker, due to soaring smoke) and does not invade privacy of persons. The level of surveillance should be consulted with parents (e.g. acting in parent-teacher association).

In those places there are used smaller dome cameras, e.g. M10744 and M10746 (IR). Similarly popular cameras are models with view angle adjustment - V-CAM 600 M10600

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Dome cameras M10746 in vandal-proof housings are well prepared for work inside schools



V-CAM 600 M10600 with view angle adjustment

The last area that should also be monitored is surroundings of the school, i.e. playground, sports fields, swimming pool, parking lot, or other places frequented by young people.

Because of limited number of cameras and big monitored area, the role of monitoring is usually to give a general view of the area, without possibility of precise identification. To improve the basic level of usefulness, it is important to employ color system, increasing precision of recognition.

“Secret weapon “- dummy cameras

A vital element of every surveillance system, especially of this kind, is the psychological aspect. The mere thought of being watched makes the people behave correctly, in a cultural way. This fact should be used for “intensification” of visual existence of the system with a number of dummy cameras, mounted in less critical points. This popular method of discouraging potential offenders significantly lowers the cost of the whole installation, but is really effective when the dummies are realistic - the ideal solution requires visually identical items to those being operational.

Choice of cameras - B/W or color

As mentioned, color images ensure much better effects as regards identification of people.

On the other hand, B/W system is more sensitive, and simple to adapt for night observation.

Lower sensitivity of color cameras is usually not a problem for this kind of installations, where the space is illuminated during the night. The second demand, i.e. night observation, possible with B/W cameras due to their spectral-response characteristic and use of IR lamps enabling discreet viewing of dark areas, can also be easily realized with appropriate color cameras.

The suitable color cameras switch at dusk into B/W mode and gain sensitivity. So they may be used for monitoring with IR lighting, like the camera SN-486C, M11202. The cameras are ideal tools for surveillance of playgrounds, sports fields, parking lots etc.



Color day/night camera M11202 is an ideal device for outdoor applications.

Majority of offered cameras is equipped with electronic iris control, changing their sensitivity depending on current lighting conditions. The cameras are capable of working with moderately changing light, e.g. inside a building, with use of cheap lenses without regulated diaphragm. However, cameras operating outside a building should be equipped with lenses with Auto Iris function, allowing to obtain good quality images even in extremely changing lighting conditions, from sun expose to almost complete darkness.

Appearance and mounting of cameras

Due to character of monitored places (with young people having a lot of energy) the cameras may be exposed to accidental or intentional damages. To restrict direct access to a camera, it should be mounted as high as possible, with use of additional housing that will prevent anybody from manipulating the device. There should be employed solid brackets, insensitive to e.g. ball hit. The preferred kind (…)

[This is not complete article. For full version go to DIPOL WLAN, TV-SAT, CCTV web site.]

 

pguha77 asked:

This video shows some results from our work on intelligent video surveillance. Multiple targets are tracked across the scenes in the busy streets of Kanpur. The tracking algorithm

LN asked:


I was using AVG and ZoneAlarm. ZA went buggy, so I installed Comodo, which I think has too much to configure. Anyway, turns out that AVG only finds mid-level to minor threats, but lets the really bad stuff stay in your computer. My AVG updated every day, and scanned every week, yet somehow missed the Sasser Worm that had installed itself into my Windows XP OS. Automatic updates would neither download nor install, and the internet connection was really wonky. At first I thought it was a firewall problem. An IT friend found the problem, fixed it, and told me that you really get what you pay for with all the free anti-virus and firewall programs out there. He said that most of the infected computers he worked on had AVG running on them, and that people who use the free stuff have a false sense of security.

So what would you recommend?

CBGFilms asked:

bensoftware.com Maybe you’ve been burgled recently, and are looking for away to protect your home or business? Check out SecuritySpy for Mac, which

Bob Carper asked:


In 1950 while I was a senior in Good Old Franklin High in Rochester NY, our honors English class received a book report assignment. It was a shock. We were to read and comment on the novel Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell. In his writings, Orwell contributed many words to the English vocabulary. In Nineteen Eighty Four, the term “Big Brother Is Watching You” became the very symbolism of a giant super state watching endlessly over the prole or the little guy.

Over fifty years have passed since I did that book report. The year 1984 has come and gone. The Cold War is no longer. We do not have super states like Oceania. George Orwell could not in his wildest essays ever dreamed up a creation like the internet. But Orwell’s creation is very evident and is with every one of us, no matter what country we live in. Here is an insight into everything we have ever wanted to know about hidden surveillance cameras

Today, hidden surveillance cameras are more common around the world than most of us realize. They can be found in banks, bus stops, department stores,7-11s, fast food restaurants, homes, and ATM machines. They are on almost every continent. These cameras were initially fed into video recording devices. Now they are monitored by real life security personnel and are channeled through the internet in order to deter crimes and rapidly identify offenders. The chances are fairly certain that if you’ve been in any gambling casino in the modern world that you have been carefully scrutinized on surveillance cameras As for government, if you have been in any office of federal, state, or local government, a hidden surveillance camera has captured your image.

Surveillance cameras are so small they do not take up a lot of space. When in place, they are not obvious. They are quite affordable when compared to other security methods. Surveillance cameras are effective in small ‘mom and pop’ type stores and restaurants. However, they are not a crime deterrent. They can only be used as evidence after the fact. They can provide valuable evidence to law enforcement, but they cannot stop the crime from happening.

To deter crimes, surveillance cameras must be used in conjunction with a law enforcement unit or a manned security patrol. In stores, cameras are mounted in “chrome domes” in the ceiling or else may sit behind store decorations. Do not be shocked if one of Santa Claus’s reindeer might be housing a surveillance camera. After all, the Christmas season sees shop lifting at peak levels.

Surveillance cameras may make you the unwitting star of the latest and greatest porno flick. Pornographic webmasters have installed webcams in every conceivable place where they can photograph people that think they have privacy. No hiding place is even close. They have set up webcams in rest rooms, locker rooms, dressing rooms, and most of all, motel rooms. Not only is Big Brother watching you, but the rest of the internet world is watching you as well. A long time favorite TV show used the expresson, “Smile ..You’re on Candid Camera ! How true.

There are however, a few drawbacks you should know about when considering a small, hidden, surveillance camera as part of a home or business security plan. Be aware that these cameras offer a very narrow or limited field of view. If these cameras are being used to identify perpetrators of a crime,a defense attorney in a court of law could easily establish reasonable doubt unless the defendant is well within the camera’s field of vision. Also, these webcams are very small and do not necessarily offer the best quality and highest resolution when it comes to photographs.

If you are hoping to catch employees, nannies, and housekeepers in the act of stealing from you or abusing their authorities and privileges, then a hidden surveillance camera is an excellent choice. The same holds true for customers who would steal as well. These cameras can quite often be valuable tools in identifying those who transgress against you. However, the hidden nature of surveillance cameras really prevents them from being an effective crime deterrent and this should be carefully considered before relying on them as a sole means of defense or security for your home and/or business.

Here is another expression that George Orwell may not have thought about. It is, “Only The Attorneys Win.” Surveillance cameras must furnish the evidence to obtain a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt. It is too easy for even a novice defense attorney to have a case thrown out of court based on surveillance camera evidence. The surveillance cameras mounted on light poles to catch you driving aggressively or running a red light or speeding may be susceptible to challenge.

The bottom line is simple enough. Get a good attorney. He or she just might be clever enough to outwit Big Brother.