Lets examine the following video surveillance operational requirements for a large, wide outdoor parking space.
- To deter potential criminals, discouraging theft, vandalism, loitering, drinking, drug use and other illegal activities through the visible presence of surveillance cameras and signs.
- Maintain a safe environment for pedestrians and vehicles, by aiding security personnel to maintain a general awareness of activity across the entire parking space, and by monitoring activity to enable them to identify suspicious behavior or potential problems, and allowing quicker response to incidents.
- Identify vehicles which may be associated with theft, robbery, hit and run accidents or other investigations, that enter or leave the parking space, by capturing the vehicle and license plate details.
- Optimize parking space utilization and traffic flow, by monitoring the parking spaces and road ways within and to identify traffic congestion.
- Identifying individuals and events involved in incidents being investigated from the saved video footage, and to maintain such footage as evidence for law enforcement
- Lets examine the strategies commonly employed for each objective.
To deter potential criminals: This objective requires two surveillance levels – Detection and Observation.
The detection level is considered as that at which it can be reliably determined that a person or vehicle is in the cameras view. At this level there is no need to distinguish specific characteristics or fine details. It’s generally accepted that this level requires a minimum of 25 pixels per meter. (PPM) Detection level surveillance is generally used for overall situational awareness to monitor activity across a wide area.
In a wide parking area this objective is often met with strategically placed, lower resolution cameras. The cameras provide wide angled coverage of the area and should be placed so as to adequately detect motion throughout the lot. The presence of the cameras alone act as psychological deterrents to potential criminals.
Observation is the second level of surveillance, and is best described as being able to observe some distinctive details of individuals or objects. Examples are clothing color, body shape or vehicle type. This level has a minimum requirement of 62 PPM.
The surveillance objective is achieved by deploying medium-resolution cameras in critical areas like entry/exit points, walkways and designated parking zones. These cameras further enhance the deterrent factor.
Panoramic cameras are a specialized type of camera designed to capture a wider field of view than a traditional fixed-lens camera. This is achieved by rotating a lens to scan a wide horizontal area, and then stitching the images together electronically to create a wide view. Or by using wide angled lenses with curved or fisheye designs.
These cameras can fulfill a valuable role in wide-area parking lot surveillance. It’s important though to acknowledge the limitations of these cameras, which generally make them suitable only for level 1 Detection. Panoramic cameras typically have lower resolution compared to traditional fixed cameras. Yes – the camera may be labeled as 5 megapixel, but that is distributed across a wider area than a fixed 5 MP camera. This is relevant when we are working to the PPM requirement for surveillance objectives.
Panoramic cameras can be a cost effective solution – reducing the number of cameras, and the resultant infrastructure needed to detect activity, throughout the lot or along the perimeter of the lot. On the one hand they reduce blind spots – although they do also create their own unique blind spot issues.
Maintain a safe environment: This objective is again approached with a mixed requirement of level 1 and level 2 surveillance. The same low resolution or panoramic cameras placed throughout the lot for deterrence, will be suitable for monitoring the entire lot, and maintaining situational awareness. Medium resolution cameras are deployed at critical areas where incidents may occur, to achieve level 2 surveillance in these areas.
It is recommended that you address the lighting in the parking lot, since wide angled cameras are usually quite limited in terms of their night vision capabilities.
Identify vehicles: This surveillance objective requires level 3 video surveillance, known as Recognition and set with a minimum PPM of 125.
Recognition level surveillance allows for identifying specific details like facial features, license plates or unique markings – at the level of being able to recognize individuals or objects with a high degree of certainty.
In a parking space high resolution fixed cameras, with zoom capabilities are placed at all entry and exit points. These cameras need to face the vehicle head on or at a slight angle. These cameras may also be placed at high value or other designated parking spaces.
The outcome is further strengthened by integrating License Plate Recognition (LPR) technology with the video surveillance system. Depending on the system it can capture, recognize, read and extract the plate details – significantly reducing the manual effort required to identify vehicles. The LPR system can be extended to interface with watch lists or national databases to generate alerts for vehicles matching specific criteria.
Optimize parking space utilization and traffic flow: Level 1 and 2 Surveillance is already in place from the previous objectives. These cameras cover the entire lot, and parking space occupation as well as traffic activity can be monitored using these cameras. Level 2 cameras may be required at additional focused areas such as roadways, intersection or parking lots – where bottlenecks or congestion are likely to occur.
The surveillance objective can be expanded by integrating Vehicle counting and detection, heat mapping or parking space detection software with the surveillance system.
Identifying individuals and events: This objective requires level 3 surveillance, and in some cases level 4 surveillance may be justified.
Level 4 surveillance is described as providing clear, detailed images suitable for forensic analysis with a PPM requirement of 250+
Level 3 surveillance is provided in parking spaces at entry/exit points to the lot. These cameras are often additional to those dedicated cameras, already provided at these points for license plate capture. Designated parking spaces, walkways or any area with a high risk of serious incidents should also be covered with Level 3 surveillance. It’s important that the entire potential incident scene is covered with the 125 PPM requirement. It is usually recommended to install cameras so as to cover the potential scene from multiple angles. This provides a more comprehensive view of the event and allows for better identification of individuals involved.
Within the parking area may be High-Security areas – Cash handling, collection and transfer of cash, cash in transit vehicle stops, ATM’s, High-value vehicle parking zones for luxury vehicles, motorcycles and even electric vehicle charging stations and security booths. These areas should be upgraded to Level 4 Surveillance.
Here are some additional considerations:
- Assess the location of past incidents to inform the location of additional cameras or higher levels of surveillance. If major incidents like hit-and-runs, robbery or assault occurred in specific areas, consider Level 3 surveillance for those areas.
- Ensure that the parking lot is well lit throughout.
- Use signage conspicuously to inform visitors that video surveillance is in operation.
- Ensure the security of captured data – you don’t need video footage to disappear when it’s needed.
- And Lastly – have a routine program in place to regularly clean the camera lenses.
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