January 31, 2008
Red Light Cameras in Chicago
[From Police ask for OK on red-light cameras]
There are lots of reports emerging about the effectiveness of red light cameras. Over the next few years, we should get a good handle on the effectiveness of these cameras. However, I was piqued by this story since it had statistics for Chicago. I don't think I have seen the city release statistics before, so I thought it was noteworthy.
Chicago documented a 70 percent reduction in crashes at intersections where red-light enforcement is used.
Posted by rshah at 03:44 PM | Comments (0)
January 29, 2008
Importance of Frame Rates
[From San Francisco Chronicle: San Francisco security cameras' choppy video]
Another great article by Bulwa reporting on the San Francisco camera system. Before noting the technical flaws, I would like to point out San Francisco is ahead of Chicago in having a good reporter following the developments as well as developing an ordinance for the video surveillance system. (The city is even supporting academic research into the effectiveness of the system, unlike Chicago which rebuffed my attempt).
Because of a lack of funds, San Francisco has cameras running at slower frame rates, which results in choppy video that may miss vital information.
Motion pictures and television programs are shown with a frame rate of at least 24 frames per second. Las Vegas casinos are required by regulators to film many gaming areas at 30 frames per second.
In Chicago, where Newsom sampled anti-crime cameras before starting his program, police get motion-picture-quality footage shot at 30 frames per second. But in the San Francisco footage, as many as 10 seconds pass between frames. Some cars and bicycles going through the intersection show up on just a single frame.
But they [technical staff for the city] acknowledged that most of the city's cameras achieve only 80 percent of the resolution they are capable of, and that they generate, at best, two to four frames per second because the city lacks the data storage space to accommodate more footage.
FYI, the cost for the 68 cameras is around $900,000 with an additional $200,000 budgeted for 25 more cameras.
Posted by rshah at 01:40 PM | Comments (0)
Cameras Are of Limited Help in Solving Murders
[From Chicago crime down 3.8 percent, annual statistics show -- chicagotribune.com]
The Tribune article posts an interesting statistic which is relevant for those of us following cameras. Cameras are typically justified in deterring crime and serving as an investigative tool. From what I can gather, cameras aren't solving a large number of murders:
Reluctant witnesses, and an increase in hard-to-solve gang homicides, have contributed to the city's decline in solving murders in recent years. Clearance rates in Chicago fell from the 70 percent range in the early 1990s to the 40 percent range in the first half of this decade. In 2007, about 36 percent of murders were solved, about the same as 2006.
As murder totals have fallen across the country, so too have clearance rates. When using the FBI's method—of counting any murders solved in a year, whether the homicide occurred that year or in previous years—Chicago's clearance rate rises to 59 percent, comparable to the national rate of about 60 percent. But that same national rate was 69 percent in 2000 and even higher in decades past.
So despite all the cameras, DNA analysis, and other fancy CSI gizmo's, its actually harder to solve a murder now than it was 10 years ago. There is an explanation for this, but it doesn't really support using cameras as an investigative tool:
James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University in Boston, said it's a nationwide problem. "It's not the ability to solve crimes that has changed," Fox said. "Homicides have shifted away from the easy ones to solve to the more difficult ones to solve. Over the years, perpetrators have gotten younger, homicides are much more likely to involve strangers, much more likely to involve gangs, and there's a code of silence."
Posted by rshah at 10:37 AM | Comments (0)
January 25, 2008
Chicago Murder Statistics (2007)
[From Chicago crime down 3.8 percent, annual statistics show -- chicagotribune.com]
The latest number in Chicago show that murders were down last year. Here are the stats over the last few years for murders:
2003 - 598
2004 - 448
2005 - 448
2006 - 467
2007 - 443
The results show that the murder rate hasn't changed much in the last few years. I won't go into why, but there are lots of possible factors.
Posted by rshah at 01:31 PM | Comments (0)
Cameras in NYC Schools
[From City Limits: News for NYC's Nonprofit, Policy and Activist World]
A very good investigative article on the camera systems in schools. The article is noteworthy for several reasons, but I like the fact that it carefully details the problems in the camera installation. As yesterday's post also noted regarding the NYC subway camera system, installation is never a slam dunk. While I am sure those inside the industry hear these stories all the time, they are rarely brought to the attention of the public (or me), especially for camera systems designed for security. However, its an important point that getting these systems up and running outside of the lab can be difficult in real world environments with budgets.
Another good point in Winston's story is the use of the cameras and access to the footage. She details the rules regarding archived footage and the difficulty for parents and students in gaining access to the footage. I am sure the issues here occur for lots of cities and schools using cameras. Putting into places rules and procedures for camera footage is not accomplished overnight. Its a mixture of bureaucratic, legal, and technical issues.
Posted by rshah at 11:47 AM | Comments (0)
January 24, 2008
NYC's Subway Camera System Delayed
[From NYC's Subway Spycam Network Stuck in the Station | Danger Room from Wired.com]
Noah Shachtman has an interesting post about NYC smart camera for its subway. He cites a government report which finds that the project has been delayed because the "contractor [Lockheed Martin I assume] has difficulty tailoring the software to the conditions in the MTA environment." It also noted that cost has growing from $265 million to $450 million—an increase of $185 million or 70 percent. (Nearly half of the increase is due to the inclusion of additional facilities). The timetable is now pushed back into 2009 and "while the MTA is proceeding with the intelligent video program, one particular element could not be advanced at this time due to difficulties tailoring the software to conditions in the MTA environment."
So the smart camera system is costing more because of the difficult conditions in the subway system. I wonder how well its performing? Clearly, at least one feature is not working. I wonder exactly what that feature is (could be facial recognition . . . they really couldn't think that would work . . .)
Posted by rshah at 12:02 PM | Comments (0)
January 15, 2008
Smart Camera Myths
[From SecurityInfoWatch.com Article- Eye on Video: Examining intelligent video]
Fredrick Nilsson of Axis Communications offers a number of myths on intelligent video. They are:
Myth 1: Intelligent video is more intelligent than you
Myth 2: Intelligent video is the wave of the future
Myth 3: I've seen the demo, so this must really work!
Myth 4: It takes a PhD to set it up
Myth 5: You need a digital signal processor (DSP) to run intelligent video
These all seem sensible to me. (I have a broader view of smart camera systems than Objectvideo, see their definition here)
Posted by rshah at 01:04 PM | Comments (0)
January 08, 2008
Poor License Plate Software in Tollways
From Daily Herald | Critics call for reform of toll collection system
A story on the toll system in Chicago points out the need to ensure the software you use fits your needs. In this case, cameras are setup to snap pictures of toll cheats. Software is then used to read license plates and send out notices.
A big glitch is that the software can't read all the various permutations of Illinois license plates. Specifically, the software can't read the smaller vertical letters on some license plates such as the PV on the Illinois prevent violence plate. This problem is compounded because nonstandard plates often have the same main letters, e.g., "1234" Illinois environmental plate or "1234" regular plate. This ensures that the standard plate will be labeled as the cheat.
Consequently, slower humans are brought in to check this. Not surprisingly, there are lots of slip-ups. The problem could be averted by updating the software or changing license plates. This is a significant problem. There is already $78 million in lost tolls with tens of millions of dollars potentially lost every year.
Posted by rshah at 12:55 PM | Comments (0)