Body worn video cameras

Vigilant Solutions - an AI and data analytics company that provides technology to public safety - announced it has entered the body worn camera market by acquiring Edesix Ltd, a global provider of wearable security hardware and software, and the United Kingdom's number one manufacturer of body worn cameras. The acquisition strengthens Vigilant's position as a market leader in image capture solutions by adding body worn camera images via hardware and software and in-car camera technology to its existing suite of automated license plate recognition (ALPR), facial recognition, ballistics analysis and gun crime mapping hardware and software solutions. Expanding public safety customer base This acquisition puts Vigilant in the position to offer public safety a full suite of image capture solutions including the ability to integrate our suite of technologies with in-car cameras""Vigilant Solutions is excited to enter the body worn and in-car camera markets," said Shawn Smith, Founder and President of Vigilant Solutions. "This acquisition puts Vigilant in the position to offer public safety a full suite of image capture solutions - both in the U.S. and internationally - including the ability to integrate our suite of technologies with in-car cameras. Edesix has a strong global footprint, which includes more than 20,000 body camera deployments across several industries and five continents. This acquisition allows us to continue to build Vigilant's global brand. In addition, Edesix also enhances Vigilant's hardware and software engineering capabilities." With the acquisition of Edesix, Vigilant is not only entering the body worn and in-car camera markets but is also expanding its presence beyond its traditional public safety customer base and will serve a broad range of commercial industries. Video evidence management system Body worn camera and in-car camera footage obtained via Vigilant's hardware, is stored in VideoManager, a robust video evidence management system. VideoManager is a component of Vigilant's cloud-based investigative platform, which includes image capture data and analytics for ALPR, facial recognition, ballistics and gun crime mapping. "The Edesix team is thrilled with the acquisition by Vigilant Solutions, which has been at the forefront of machine vision and machine learning technology innovation in the public safety community for years," said Richie McBride, CEO of Edesix. "The combination of Vigilant's image analytics solutions and our body worn and in-car camera products is truly exciting. When you consider that our solutions seamlessly integrate into Vigilant's investigative platform, the global public safety community has some incredibly powerful tools to keep them and their communities safe."

Edesix, a provider of Body Worn Camera (BWC) solutions, will showcase its new integrated security technology on the Genetec stand at Security Essen 2018, the world's most important trade fair for security in Germany. Edesix has an integrated technology partnership with Genetec which enables Edesix Body Worn Cameras, and associated VideoManager software, to integrate seamlessly with Genetec Security Center. This integration offers streamlined wearable security management, support and storage for city wide surveillance and law enforcement. Edesix VideoBadge and VideoTag BWC Edesix will be showcasing its camera streaming gateway software, called ONStream, at Security Essen 2018Users of Security Center will be able to automatically view live video and audio captured on an Edesix VideoBadge or VideoTag BWC. Features currently found within the Edesix solution, such as RFID touch-assign, video encryption and video offloading, will be accessible through the Genetec system, allowing for effective large-scale deployment and estate management. Edesix, global provider of Body Worn Cameras (BWC), will be showcasing its camera streaming gateway software, called ONStream, at Security Essen 2018, alongside the company's suite of wearable cameras, designed for markets such as police, security, retail and prison services. ONStream integrates Edesix's VideoManager platform with the existing Genetec Video Management Systems (VMS) for fixed IP camera networks. Cameras integrate seamlessly with VideoManager and Security Center, meaning captured footage can be instantly shared and viewed by security staff in one integrated picture. Seamless integrations "The Genetec open-architecture allows technology partners like Edesix to offer seamless integrations for its Body Worn Cameras with Security Center and Genetec Clearance—our collaborative investigation management system," said Georges Tannous, Director of Strategic Alliances, Genetec Inc. "Together, these technologies are helping law enforcement and security professionals capture, respond to, and manage video evidence and data (with privacy and encryption) which speeds up investigations. We invite all show attendees to request a demo on our stand during Security Essen 2018," added Tannous.

Soliton Systems K.K, a Japanese technology company specialising in IT security and mobile surveillance products, has successfully completed the certification of the Zao-S with Milestone’s XProtect video management platform. Mobile video transmission Utilised on a global stage with many law enforcement, first responder and emergency services, Soliton Systems manufactures the “Smart-telecaster Zao-S”, that allows instant encrypted video live streaming from remote mobile situations such as body worn actions cams, police surveillance vehicles, drones, helicopters and in some cases live streaming from dogs. This is achievable by the miniature device utilising multiple 4G connections simultaneously to live stream video reliably back to a command centre. The Zao-S, a lightweight yet powerful HEVC (H.265) mobile video transmission device, is used by many global law enforcement agencies The Zao-S, a lightweight yet powerful HEVC (H.265) mobile video transmission device, is used by many global law enforcement agencies and other public safety agencies to live stream for a variety of different applications such as public event surveillance, security, covert operations or live streaming from a body worn camera during police operations. In conjunction with Milestone’s XProtect VMS, it can be used to live stream high quality video that can then be displayed in real-time and recorded in the VMS environment with low latency and in full HD quality. XProtect VMS platform In addition to the Zao-S, Soliton have developed the “Zao Media Gateway” that is a receiving platform to recreate the H.265 stream from the multi-linked mobile networks and create IP video streams which for XProtect would be the H265/ONVIF over RTSP. The Zao Media Gateway can be operated in the cloud or in a customer’s own network (on-premises) and is used to stream to the VMS platform, or it can live stream to any destination in the world as required including laptops, tablets and smartphones. Regarding this partnership, Henrik Sydbo Hansen, Group Manager, Devices & Integrations commented as follows: “We are dedicated to working with partners in order to give our joint customers the perfect solution. At the same time, we are delighted to expand our mobile solutions portfolio with a partner like Soliton.” Surveillance cameras The Zao-S can be used with many off-the-shelf action cameras or surveillance cameras that supports HDMI or SDI The Zao-S can be used with many off-the-shelf action cameras or surveillance cameras that supports HDMI or SDI to live stream in full HD, with a latency typically of between 500ms to 1 second from the remote camera to the XProtect VMS back at a command centre. Henrik Sydbo Hansen continues: “We see a rapidly raising interest for highly mobile solutions, and the open platform approach in XProtect, means that we can present more and more partners meeting this demand.” Official support begun end of August 2018 when the Soliton solution was included in Milestones XProtect device pack version 9.9.

Edesix has entered at number 64 in the 18th annual Sunday Times Hiscox Tech Track 100 league table, which ranks Britain's 100 private tech (TMT) companies with the fastest-growing sales over the last three years. It is compiled by Fast Track and published in The Sunday Times each September, with an awards dinner in November, and alumni dinners during the year. Impressive safety & security solutions Edesix has enjoyed a very successful last 18 months, where it has won some impressive new contracts with UK prisons, Scotrail and South Australian Police, and launched several new products, including the VideoTag Series, its smallest most light-weight BWCs to date, the X-100 (head mounted) and X-200 (torso mounted) cameras and ONStream which integrates Edesix body worn cameras with existing CCTV video management systems. Police officers, paramedics and bailiffs in countries as far afield as Peru and New Zealand can be found wearing Edesix body worn cameras Edesix has also opened new offices in both the USA and the Middle East. Police officers, paramedics and bailiffs in countries as far afield as Peru and New Zealand can be found wearing the company's body worn cameras which help improve safety for workers in public facing roles as well as providing video evidence. Developments in body worn camera "This is fantastic news for us and a great testament to all the hard work that has been put in over the last few years to grow the business both here in the UK and overseas," explains Richie McBride, Managing Director of Edesix. "There have been huge developments in the body worn camera market in recent years, and we are determined to keep our place as market leader by continuing to innovate, listening to what customers want and keep moving into new target markets. We now have a presence in the USA, Middle East, Europe, Canada, and Australasia, and we will continue to expand in the coming years."

The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) is the first Ambulance Service to trial body worn video cameras in a scheme that launches this week. Approximately 40 of the Trust’s frontline staff will be trying out the use of body cameras in a bid to offer them greater support against the rise of incidents of violence and aggression. Alan Gallagher, Head of Risk, said: “The health, safety and welfare of our staff are of utmost importance. We want to take every precaution possible to ensure that our employees are safe whilst at work.” NEAS staff adorn body worn cameras “Our staff are reporting more incidents of this nature and we are working closely with the police and other partners to respond to those perpetrators with warning letters and, where necessary, criminal action. From previous reports, we know that most of these circumstances happen away from CCTV covered areas so using body worn video cameras will mean that our staff can record evidence of abuse or assaults when they happen, such as when they are in a residential property attending to a patient." We will continue to work on measures to reduce assaults and liaise with police colleagues" "This move is designed to help us bring more prosecutions against people who put our staff at risk and reduce the assaults and abuse they are currently facing in the line of their work. There really is nothing more disheartening than being hurt by someone that you’ve gone to help, particularly when they already work in such challenging circumstances.” Fighting crime “We will continue to work on measures to reduce assaults and liaise with police colleagues to ensure action is taken following any criminal acts against staff or the Trust. We encourage all valuable NHS colleagues not to tolerate such behaviour.” The number of reported physical assaults on NEAS staff has increased by 23% compared to last year. The numbers of addresses across the North East flagged for the potential caution or violence has also increased. This sits against a backdrop of more than 350 prosecutions that have been brought for attacks on ambulance staff over the last year nationally. The scale of the problem is believed to be much greater. Emergency workers’ safety This follows a new law that was recently introduced, the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Bill, in which individuals who assault, or attack emergency workers will face longer jail terms if found guilty. The Bill was designed to recognise the debt of gratitude the public feels towards emergency services, and for the courage, commitment and dedication they show every day in carrying out their duties. Footage will be admissible as evidence in the court of law utilising Edesix VideoManager software platform Mr. Gallagher continued, “We welcome anything that will help to deter people from abusing or assaulting our staff and we hope that by reporting incidents and providing credible evidence where we can, courts might be able to be much tougher when sentencing those found guilty of assaulting and threatening our staff, prosecuting those people to the full extent of the law.” Edesix VideoManager software Footage obtained in the event of an assault or abuse will be admissible as evidence in the court of law utilising the features available in the Edesix VideoManager software platform. It will only be used for the purposes of providing evidence to the Police in any enquiry intended for the health, safety and protection of staff. The tamper proof cameras, software and support for the three-month trial have been provided free by Edesix. Richie McBride, Chief Executive Officer of Edesix commented, "We're pleased to provide the North East Ambulance Service with our cameras to enhance the protection of staff and to deter any aggressive behaviour towards NEAS workers."

For the first time in Europe, bodycams have been deployed in public transport on a nationwide level. Dutch railway company NS has equipped 700 safety and service employees with Zepcam bodycams that they can use in unsafe situations to increase safety and prevent escalation of violence and aggression. Large scale bodycam deployment Body worn video is mostly used by police, other law enforcement and first responders. However, there is a growing demand for this technology to be used in other sectors like public transport, in order to increase the safety of employees and passengers. In the Netherlands for instance, the number of people who are victims of an annoying violent incident in public transport has increased from 13.5 percent in 2016 to 15.5 percent last year, according to research centre CROW. It’s the first time a public transportation organisation deploys bodycams on such a large scale within the EU Dutch Railways (NS) approached Dutch tech company Zepcam to develop bodycam solutions for its safety and service employees. These workers monitor the train stations and approach people who are for instance dodging the fare, behaving aggressively or otherwise causing problems. Thanks to the bodycams, they now can record situations for further investigation and prosecution purposes. Zepcam has over 400 customers in 45 countries, including the police forces of Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Singapore, and already supplies mobile video and bodycam solutions to local public transport companies like Movia in Denmark, SBB in Switzerland, SNCF and Veolia in France and Arriva in the UK. At Dutch Railways, it’s the first time a public transportation organisation deploys bodycams on such a large scale within the EU. Benefits of bodycam solutions According to Marjolein Maasland, representative of Dutch Railways, the new bodycams are comfortable to wear and easy to use. "I believe that the bodycam can help employees positively influence an escalating situation and possibly even prevent an incident," she states. CEO Bart van der Aa of Zepcam: "We are very proud to be the ones helping Dutch Railways’ safety and service personnel and their passengers decrease violence and prevent escalations. A growing number of organisations is discovering the benefits of our bodycam solutions for application in busses and subway trains and stations. We aim to make public transport safer all over Europe."

Video surveillance has begun offering healthcare providers more than just security; video analytics are now allowing hospitals and clinics to achieve their business goals. Improving patient satisfaction is supported by staff reminders when a patient has been left alone for too long. Even more, an alert can be given to staff members when a patient arrives that needs assistance. This reduces wait times, improves service and gives patients better outcomes.  However, healthcare costs are rising throughout the world. In the US, spending is expected to reach 19.3% of GDP by 2023; whereas the European Union, with more moderate spending, will reach 10% of GDP by 2060. Managing costs has never been more important.  While the benefits of a video surveillance system help healthcare providers to manage their costs by enabling them to achieve their business goals, storing large amounts of video can pose a problem. With many hospitals recording 24/7 and long government mandated retention times, bandwidth and storage space can quickly evaporate.  SAS drives provide reliable system scalability The SuperNova Series uses SAS technology to improve performance over SATA drives. This is an evolution of the parallel SCSI into point-to-point serial peripheral interface, in which the controllers link directly to the disk drives. With up to 224TB storage on SAS hard drives, superior bi-directional data transfer and high availability support up to 1000 cameras, one SuperNova Server offers scalability at an extraordinary level for mission-critical security applications.  Moreover, by supporting a variety of surveillance cameras, encoders and applications, SuperNova Servers allow customers to build high-quality surveillance systems lowering cost, raising performance and maximising capability. The SuperNova Series’ scalability and bandwidth for up to 1000 cameras make expansion efforts easy while maintaining complete failover redundancy.  All SuperNova Servers can come preloaded with the VMS of the integrator’s choice. This makes them well-suited for enterprise IP video surveillance applications. They can be used as a unified security solution or as a stand-alone platform for video storage, access control, or licence plate recognition. 

The IRIS Cam system integration with Genetec Clearance allows efficient video evidence collection & management Point Blank Enterprises, a manufacturer of soft body armour and related protective solutions, announced that it has been awarded a five-year contract by the North Miami City Council to provide the North Miami Police Department with IRIS Cam body worn cameras, together with a collaborative case management system from Genetec Inc., a leading provider of open-architecture security and public safety solutions. PBE and Genetec will offer the city of North Miami Police Department an integrated system that combines 120 IRIS Cam body-worn cameras and Genetec Clearance, a case management system designed to accelerate investigations by enabling different organisations to collect, manage and share video evidence. IRIS Cam body worn camera The IRIS Cam is designed to meet the growing demand for law enforcement agencies to provide a visual and audio record of officers’ interactions with the public and help agencies improve evidence collection and enhance officer accountability. Built in a ruggedised enclosure, the IRIS cam provides ultra-high definition recording with a 140° FOV, for getting even closer to the action. Additionally, the IRIS Cam ensures not a moment is missed with 30 seconds of pre-recording. Genetec Clearance case management system The Genetec Clearance case management system is designed to speed up investigations by enabling different organisations to collect, manage and share video evidence, and other relevant case information. It allows police officers, investigators and security managers to gather digital evidence from the IRIS Cam and other sources—such as cell phone footage from bystanders and witnesses and store surveillance video—and easily store, manage, review and share it from a single application. Efficient video evidence capturing The integration of the IRIS Cam system with Genetec Clearance allows for quick and simple uploads, saving officers time at the end of their shift. Post-incident tagging can also be added to the recording, to help with further classification of the event and to aid in locating the file for future searches or investigations. With built-in video redaction, Genetec Clearance protects the privacy of bystanders by allowing identifiable information to be masked, if video must be shared with 3rd parties or when fulfilling public record requests. All user actions initiated within the system, whether internal or external, are automatically tracked to ensure the chain of custody of the evidence is maintained at all times. Streamlined video evidence management “The IRIS Cam system and Genetec Clearance will help the city of North Miami Police Department achieve a streamlined and highly effective process of capturing, managing and administrating video evidence, which will ultimately save the city time and resources in managing cases over the long term,” stated Paulo Motoki, Chief Operating Officer, Point Blank Enterprises. “With over 40 years of trusted service to law enforcement agencies around the world, we are proud to provide a unique hardware/software turnkey solution that will help strengthen accountability and transparency. This will result in more constructive encounters between the police and members of the community,” added Motoki.

Among its many uses and benefits, technology is a handy tool in the fantasy world of movie and television thrillers. We all know the scene: a vital plot point depends on having just the right super-duper gadget to locate a suspect or to get past a locked door. In movies and TV, face recognition is more a super power than a technical function. Video footage can be magically enhanced to provide a perfect image of a license plate number. We have all shaken our heads in disbelief, and yet, our industry’s technical capabilities are improving every day. Are we approaching a day when the “enhanced” view of technology in movies and TV is closer to the truth? We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: How much has the gap closed between the reality of security system capabilities and what you see on TV (or at the movies)?

Body-worn cameras are becoming more common every day, driven both by needs of the marketplace and technology developments. However, questions remain about the usefulness of the devices, and their future role in promoting safety and security. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What are the challenges of body-worn cameras for the security industry?