Q:
We recently installed a video surveillance system in a building that had a bank in front it. The bank was robbed. The parking area used by bank patrons was within the field of view of two of the four surveillance cameras. The police requested our assistance because the end user didn’t know how to operate the DVR.
The system had been up and running less than a week. It was setup to record all cameras all the time. We set up the recorder for normal picture quality and maximum record time, which based on the internal hard disc drive (HDD) meant 496 hours of recording before HDD overwrite.
Of the two cameras in the system that viewed the crime scene, one view was partially blocked after a delivery van parked in front of it. The other camera was able to show: the robber arriving, parking and going in the bank; shortly afterwards a cloud of red paint as the dye pack exploded; the robber’s car headlights flash, as he panicked (and pressed the wrong button on his remote). As the robber drove away, his car passed right under the camera.
There were some problems. The image quality and the frame rate were disappointing. Unable to get any of the time/event search functions to work, we had to fast forward from the beginning of the HDD to the time frame in which the robbery occurred. The machine’s FF crawled.
This DVR had a compact flash slot for off-loading video but no one had a compact flash card. The detective brought a 1GB cassette. The police wanted one hour of video from one of the cameras. The DVR menu only allowed offloading all cameras; so the 1 GB cassette was barely large enough, and according to the onscreen prompts, the offload was going to take 177 minutes, which turned out to be accurate.
The detective began rattling off the brands of DVRs at various robberies he had investigated. He said that the market was flooded with junk like this DVR.
Our company takes pride in its work and I was mortified. How should I have responded?
A:
Your client was not the bank. I’ll assume if you had been approached to install a surveillance system intended to produce forensic evidence in a high-risk environment such as a bank, you would have selected different equipment.
Your client played a part in this situation and constrained your design criteria for this system by setting a low budget limit. However, your company should be more methodical about end-user training.
It’s also obvious that you didn’t install enough cameras for the site. Some of the newer megapixel cameras and application-specific plate-capture cameras will permit different rules for camera deployment. You, however, chose not to use these types for your project.
Also, by going for the longest record time (496 hours) the frame rate (fps) and image resolution are reduced. It is better to select a record time that would produce playback quality equal to or better than the quality of live viewing.
Depending on your application and the video system, you can also trigger a higher recording resolution when activity occurs. This would not have been practical in a busy parking lot.
Lastly, learn from your experience. Familiarize yourself with how to properly interpret DVR specs.
Security Dealer Technical Editor Tim O’Leary is a 30-year veteran of the security industry and a 10-year contributor to the magazine. O’Leary’s background encompasses having been a security consultant since 1986 and an independent security company owner/operator, in addition to his research and evaluation of new technologies and products introduced to the physical and electronic security fields. He is a member of the VBFAA (Virginia Burglar and Fire Alarm Association); certified for Electronic Security Technician and Sales by the VADCJS (Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services); and, has served as a judge for the SIA New Product Showcase. Send your integration questions to [email protected].
