Axis network cameras help Alagoas’ government reduce crime rates, identify unregistered vehicles and raise driver awareness.
Axis network cameras help Alagoas' government reduce crime rates, identify unregistered vehicles and raise driver awareness.
Mission
The Secretary of State for Social Protection has taken on the challenge of fighting crime and reducing violence and traffic accidents. Its investments have included the expansion of the number of local and military police and the installation of video surveillance systems, not only in the capital, but also in cities in the interior of Alagoas.
Solution
A total of 125 AXIS Q6034-E, AXIS P1354-E and AXIS P1344-E Network Cameras were installed across 26 of Maceio's 50 districts. These models include mobile cameras that can pan 360° and fixed cameras for reading license plates, which are considered one of the more advanced features of the project. The system also uses the SecurOS video management software solution from Intelligent Security Systems (ISS), an Axis partner, and uses Eyes Nwhere for OCR, along with HP storage servers and Enterasys core switches.
Result
The cameras installed in Alagoas have boosted the agility of security force activities. The video surveillance center allows effective monitoring of Social Defense intelligence targets in the fight against organized crime. Thanks to their HD quality, these images can be used as evidence in police investigations involving various types of crimes. And crime rates have been falling.
Optimizing human resources
According to the Core Unit of the Social Defense Integrated Operations Centers, when a camera records an incident the response procedure starts with the work of the camera operator monitoring a certain location. A supervisor is informed and they immediately engage the operations center. At the operations center, teams can use ten high resolution screens and individual computers to display everything that is happening at key strategic points around the city.
The supervisor is also responsible for defining what kind of public safety personnel (firefighters, military police or local police) are to be sent to the incident. Depending on the incident, images can be shared with other security agencies after undergoing an internal review. So the cameras optimize the use of public resources and serve the needs of the population.
The same thing happens at bars and restaurants that have a “panic button”, which is used in dangerous situations. When it is pushed, it triggers an alarm in the Military Police operations center - following a cooperation agreement between the Maceió Association of Bars and Restaurants (Abrasel) and police headquarters. The entire 125-camera project includes mobile cameras that can pan 360º and fixed cameras that are ideal for reading license plates. The design uses 98 AXIS Q6034-E PTZ Network Cameras, along with 22 AXIS P1344-E and five AXIS P1354-E Network Cameras, all with high definition resolution.
License plate reading
One of the main advantages of the project is its ability to monitor traffic so as to ensure good traffic flow and keep an eye out for accidents and crashes.
Cameras operate along the main roads in and out of the city with the support of radio operators, and the images are monitored at the Municipal Transport and Traffic Division headquarters.
The license plate cameras allow plates to be crosschecked against a database of stolen vehicles and can identity vehicles that have not paid their registration fees.
Homicides on the decline
“One of the biggest technical challenges of this project was to put the first phase on-line in 30 days. We needed to install 20 cameras and 100 km of fiber optics, set up the entire server infrastructure, and remodel the Control Center. We had to increase the number of staff in the field to get the work done on time,” says Edson J. Pires, Eyes Nwhere Director of Projects and Products.
Police statistics are already revealing the outcomes of the project. Intelligence from the State Department of Social Defense shows the drop in homicides in the state is due “to operations and measures taken by the state government in fighting crime”, through measures that include “the added value of technology used in this initiative, including video surveillance in the capital and elsewhere in the state,” a government official said. Amilton de Lucca, CEO of Eyes Nwhere said that sharing images among various agencies and coordinating the work of the government plays an essential role in achieving a significant reduction in violence. “In the places where the Axis cameras were installed, crimes has fallen by as much as 70 %. The population is feeling much safer,” explains Amilton.
The images of public roads are also helping to raise residents' awareness of traffic laws. Maceió's Superintendent of Transportation and Traffic has released videos captured by Axis cameras showing serious accidents on Maceió's main roads, such as Av. Durval de Goés Monteiro and Fernandes Lima—such as a scene where a vehicle runs a red light and collides with another. In making the videos public, the Secretariat said that “many accidents could be prevented and lives saved if drivers drove more carefully.”