2009 MRes projects
- Speech enhancement using the binary mask method and its application to law enforcement
- Can crime science tools help tackle internal child sex trafficking in the UK?
- Assessing and improving whole body scanners through public involvement
- Beyond primary transfer: The secondary transfer of geoforensic trace particulates and their dissemination within social networks
- Use of a mirror-symmetry prior in small vehicle imaging
- Predicting the position of the source of blood stains for angled impacts on fabrics and exploring the effects of surface roughness on stain characteristics
- Attention to detail predicts threat detection performance in security X-ray images
- Small vehicle inspection scanner imaging: SVXi
- An evaluation of CCTV monitoring strategies for hospital security
An evaluation of CCTV monitoring strategies for hospital security
22 February 2012
This research is being funded by the Armenian government. This research addresses the problem of evaluating surveillance strategies for different automatic sequences of CCTV cameras in relation to a particular spatial layout and incident prevention strategies. It is suggested that in order to have high detection likelihood the surveillance strategies need to be optimized in relation to specific camera sequences, which should be determined by spatial design and functional distribution of activities taking place in the facility.
As a case study a hospital building was selected as a type of public building, which has many unrestricted entry/exit points with large number of people visiting and working in the facility. The ‘remote patrolling’ of the spaces with CCTV cameras is widely used to control facility and detect crime incidents.
The methodologies and analytical tools are taken from Situational Crime Prevention Techniques (Clarke, 1992), Risk Management Analysis (Garcia, 2006) and spatial modelling based on mathematical graph theory (Space Syntax, Hillier and Hanson, 1983). The results of the study are calculated using logical diagrams, risk equations and computer-based simulations.
The findings show that camera sequence indeed matters for the monitoring strategies. The results obtained from random camera sequence allocation in comparison to defined sequence show almost double the chance of detection if the defined sequence is used. Particular cameras perform equally well in different camera sequence strategies indicating that the spatial positioning of the camera is an important aspect of effective video surveillance.