Closed-Circuit Television Systems Design for Gold Facility - Term Paper Example

CCTV Systems Design for Gold Facility Student Name Institution Introduction CCTV systems are used for surveillance in different locations, whether private or public premises. They are installed for different purposes such as monitor and control of movement, prevent intrusion or prevent theft, to mention but just a few. Initially, CCTV systems were used to cities and large establishment for security purposes. In the recent years, they have become important tools in both private and public sectors. They has increasingly gained importance in schools, hospitals, transport sector and public joints such as football pitch. Furthermore, they play part in large production facilities, in medical equipments and recording sport scenes (Hayes, R., & Downs, D. 2011). Before installation of the CCTV, it is important to understand some of the key issues and components. For instance, in Australia, individuals and organizations must comply with Australian Security Industry Association Limited licensing before installation of the systems. Additionally, there are different types of CCTV systems such as wired and wireless systems which have merits and demerits. For example, wired systems are secure when it comes to external hacking becomes hackers need to access the internal connections which is complicated. On the other hand, wireless systems are easy to install, have no running cables but can be hacked by external sources (Phillips, B. 2006). Regardless of the system chosen, some components of CCTV such as lenses, cameras, screens, cables video cameras and display monitors must be chosen wisely depending on the purpose of monitoring and results required (Fuentes, L. & Velastin, S. 2004). The paper that follows will design CCTV systems for gold storage facility taking into consideration of the requirements and system specifications. Level one Requirements According to Cohen, Gattuso and MacLennan-Brown (2009), before installation of CCT systems, it is important to define the nature of threat or risk facing the organization or premises. Gold is highly precious and very expensive. Therefore, the nature of threats facing the gold storage facility is related to theft and intrusion. CCTV will therefore help to avert theft and unauthorized entry into the facility. The assumption made is that there are other security measures that are already in place in the storage facility. This includes reinforcement of storage walls with steel metals, alert alarms at all entry points, bullet proof windows and doors and security personnel at every entry point. In such a case, the purpose of CCTV will be to reinforce security measures and detect any nature of theft or unauthorized entry into the gold storage facility. Site plan A site plan is a detailed picture of the entire area that requires CCTV installation. A site plan helps to indicate where cameras, monitoring area and lighting systems will be placed (EMCO, Division of Intertest, Inc,. 1990). The critical area to be monitored in this case is the storage facility that is located between the office and workshop. The cameras should therefore be placed in areas that can monitor the storage facility easily such as on the car park area, areas behind the store on the fence and inside the store. Appendix 1 indicates the site plan where CCTV systems are to be installed. Statement of problem The risks that are facing the organization is theft, entry of unauthorized persons, controlling crowd and public safety. The threats are more likely to take place in the areas shown by appendix 2, which are areas around the car park, behind the gold storage facility and entrance areas. Stakeholders Some of the stakeholders that must be involved in installation of the system are CCTV technicians, administration, employees and ASIA. CCTV experts will help in installation of the system. Management will play a key role of illustrating critical areas and employees will be trained on how to operate systems and actions they should take place in case the threats occur. ASIA will be required in order to provide license before installation to ensure that the organization complies with the law. Risk assessment Theft is likely to take place in the storage facility given that it is highly precious and expensive. Additionally, entry of unauthorized persons, pose another threat since their intension may be difficult to comprehend. Monitoring movement around the areas using CCTV will help in reducing the risks. If theft takes place, the organization will lose billions of dollars. Furthermore, clients who store gold with the organization will demand refund will highly cost the organization. Lastly, the company will lose reputation that it has built over the years and it may take years to recover. Success criteria CCTV systems help in detection intruders and help in detecting theft (Fan 2014). If theft and intrusions are avoided, it will help the company save a lot as well as ensuring security of gold. To determine the success of the systems that will be installed, the management will analyze the improvement that will have occurred over the years in terms of security in the premises after CCTV installation. Success will not be determined by a single incidence. Solution There are other security measures already i place as mentioned earlier such as good lighting systems, intruder detections alarms, electric fencing and slide door. However, all these systems can be interfered with either internally or externally and follow-up would be complicated. However, with CCTV system, incidences of theft or intrusion can be monitored and controlled. Furthermore, in case of theft or intrusion, information stored in the system can be used to find culprits or be used in courts as evidence (Fuentes, L. & Velastin, S. 2004). CCTV footage can be used by police to conduct investigations and when culprits are caught, it will help organization avoid losses that it might have incurred. Level Two After description of important requirements, the next stage level two where the section seeks to answer the questions of why CCTV is required. The main purpose of CCTV at the gold storage facility is to monitor movement so as to avoid theft and unauthorized entry. This monitoring should take place inside and around the premises. For this reason, the cameras to be installed must have the capability of identifying persons entering the store, the number plates of cars in car park as well as those coming in building, activities taking place inside the store and the speed and direction of people inside or outside the store. The reasons of observation The idea behind installation of CCTV systems is to eliminate theft and intrusion. In this case CCTV cameras are required to monitor and control movement inside and outside the storage area. The cameras may have either lower or higher level of imaging as long as they can identify individuals clearly. Speed required Real time recording require cameras with high resolution and huge storage space. Since the essence of CCTV cameras in storage areas is not to monitor real-time actions, high frame rate recording will be appropriate. High frame rate systems are capable of recording movement in a given areas (Fuentes, L. & Velastin, S. 2004). Cameras with recording speed of 12 fps will be appropriate in this case. Issues of operation CCTV system will be monitored and operated by a CCTV expert who will be trained by the organization. The responsibilities of the technician will be to monitor operations of the systems during the day and going through video recording of the previous night. In a case of a minor problem, the persons will have the authority to fix but for major problem such as realizing that there attempt to temper with the system, he/she will notify the management. Upon notification, the operation manager will take the necessary measures to avert the problem. Requirements of the system Alert function As mentioned earlier, an alert system already exists in the building. The alert systems are found in the sliding door as one enters the storage areas and on the doors of the storage facility. The alert systems need to be integrated with the CCTV systems in order to improve their functioning as well as improve on security. Through cable connections, the alert systems will be connecting to the main server area of the CCTV in the control room. In case of entrance to the storage or entry via the sliding door, a signal will be sent to the monitor display. The signal will be in form of red light display and simple audio beep. The CCTV technician will be alerted on the display screen and he/she will be able to monitor and identify the persons that have used the two areas. Given the capability of Video Based Detection Systems (VBDS) of detecting motions (Poole, N., Zhou, Q., & Abatis, P. 2009), they will be integrated with the alert systems so that they can alert the control officer in case of motions around or inside the store. Display The screens that will display all the movements as captured by the CCTV cameras will be located in the control room. The screens to be used will be the modern plasma screens which have the ability to produce clear images and are easier to replace in case they are broken (Thiel, G. 2000). All the five cameras will have five screens which will be operated by one control officer. Recording The systems will use digital recording which will require modern hard drives like those used in modern computers. The hard drive as capable of storing huge data and make it easier to transfer the data to other devices (Cohen, N., Gattuso, J., & MacLennan-Brown, K. 2009). Data saved in the hard drives will be stored in two week before overwriting the hard drive. Secondary hard drives, the Redundant Array of Independent Disc (RIAD) will be used to store the same data stored in the primary hard drives to avoid risk of data loss in case the primary drive collapses (CCTV systems. 2006). Archives Data collected in 14 days will be deleted from the hard drive. However, the information may be needed in future. Therefore, before overwriting the hard drives, the information will be copied to DVD and USB and stored in operation management office. DVD can only be used to store motion pictures of less than 24hrs while USAN can store higher data (Poole, N., Zhou, Q., & Abatis, P. 2009). Issues of management Constrains CCTV installation in Australia is licensed by Australian Security Industry Association Limited (ASG - Integracom. 2016). Before installation of CCTV systems in the organization, ASIA will be consulted first in order to obtain a license of operation. Legal issues Apart from ASIA that controls licensing, there are several other bodies and laws in Australia that govern usage of CCTV including, regulations in access of information. These laws include The Data Protection Act (1998), The Human Rights Act (1998), Freedom of information Act (2000), The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act (1994), The Protection from Harassment Act (1997), The Police and Criminal Evidence Act (1984), The Magistrates Court Act (1980), The Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act (1996), The Magistrates Court Rules (1981) and The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000) (Cohen, N., Gattuso, J., & MacLennan-Brown, K. 2009). It will be crucial for the management to go through all the laws and Acts in order to comply with all of them. Maintenance The control officer together with the CCTV technician will be responsible to maintaining the CCTV components. The maintenance procedures will include cleaning lenses, screens an cameras, replacing broken parts, maintaining the camera location and checking warrant periods of all components. In case of replacing broken parts, the persons will have authorization and financing from the administration. Resources To install and maintain the CCTV systems, the organization will incur costs of contracting CCTV experts, training its employees, purchasing the various components, replacing broken parts over time and ensuring that power run uninterrupted in throughout especially in the storage area. The finance will be resourced from company savings and loans from banks. Specifications of the system Lighting The system will use two types of lighting: natural and artificial lighting. Natural lighting (from the sun) will mostly be applicable during the day. Artificial lighting using bulbs and floodlights will be used at night. The two will ensure that cameras are fed with lighting throughout. Lens hoods will be in place and applied automatically in case of very bright days or cloudy nights to avoid damage of lenses. Scene contrast To avoid flare or dull images scene contrast of 3:4 will be used. This contrast is average since very high contrast leads to shadow-like images while extremely low contrast makes pictures to appear dark making it difficult to distinguish or recognize images. Cameras Cameras are one of the most crucial components of the CCTV system. This is because they capture the scenes to be recorded and help in control and monitoring. The two essential parts of the cameras are lenses and sensors (Fuentes, L. & Velastin, S. 2004). They determine how well the cameras as situated for a given scene. Positioning of cameras also play a key role in ensuring that the images captured are clear. In this case, indoor and outdoor cameras will be used. Since they will be five cameras situated for different reasons, the description below explains the locations, specifications and reasons for the cameras. Camera 1 It will be placed on a pole above the parking lot which will help monitor movement around the areas and identify number plates of the cars that will be parked in that area. The specifications will be outdoor camera of 100.5 vertical height, 15.0 horizontal length and doom circle of 360o. Camera two It will have the same specifications as camera 1: outdoor camera of 100.5 vertical height, 15.0 horizontal length and doom circle of 360o. Similarly it will be placed on a pole above the parking lot which will help monitor movement around the areas and identify number plates of the cars that will be parked in that area Camera 3 The camera will be placed on top of processing unit and the purpose will be to monitor those going to the admin or gold storage via the slide door. It will be connected to the alert systems. The specifications will be outdoor camera of 0.3 inch imaging, 6.5 mm focal length and having a fixed length. Camera 4 The location of the camera is inside the storage facility and just like camera 3; it will be connected to the alert system. The aim of this camera is to identify individuals inside the store and monitor their activities. The specifications will be lens of 10mm focal length for high resolution, image sensor of 3.0 heights and ration of 4:3. Camera 5 The camera will be placed on the electric fence behind the store for the purpose of detecting earlier attempts of intrusion. The specs will be lens of focal length 27.0, ratio of 4:3 and sensor of 1 inch. Camera 6 It will be in the open area between storage and workshop in order to monitor any uncalled activities. It will be placed in top of a pole of 10 meters in height. The specs will be ratio of 4:3, field view of 52.0 vertical heights and 80.0 horizontal lengths. The sensor will be of 0.5. Lenses Lenses will be purchased differently from cameras hence caution will be taken to ensure there are compatible and easily available in case of need to replace. The CCTV technician and control officer will be responsible to marinating the lenses and tilting them automatically using remote control when need be. Transition Coaxial cable systems of RG59 will be used for connections since the systems will be wired CCTV system. Design specification The specifications of locations of cameras, lenses specs and purpose of surveillance will be documented in a site plan and a word document. This will be shared with the contractor and ASIA. Testing of the system The admin will go through the install system to ensure that are specifications are met and the system works properly. A drill will be organized to see how the organization is well prepared in case of theft of intrusion. Installation After planning, cables and hardware will be mounted in the right locations. The process will be documented in administration files. A copy of the document of installation process will be sent to the installation officer, another to ASIA and the original copy kept by the management. Commissioning and handover After installation commissioning will involve testing of the testing by the control officer and CCTV technician. Demonstration of how the system will work will take place during handover. After this, the admin shall approve the installation through signing. Conclusion CCTV systems are mostly used for surveillance although the technology is now being use in medical sector to monitor operations and also in games to record matches. The system is of either wired or wireless. The gold storage facility shall require installation of the system to control and monitor theft of the precious commodity. The wired system will be purchased from trusted contractor and installation will be in accordance to the plan of the area. Thereafter, the organization shall have one control officer who will be responsible for maintaining the system, providing recorded videos and images in case of an event and monitoring activities inside the storage facility while in the control room. References Best practices for the retrieval of video evidence from digital CCTV systems. (2006) (1st ed.). Arlington, VA. Cohen, N., Gattuso, J., & MacLennan-Brown, K. (2009). CCTV operational requirements manual. St Albans: Home Office Scientific Development Branch. 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(2006). The complete book of home, site, and office security (1st ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Poole, N., Zhou, Q., & Abatis, P. (2009). Analysis of CCTV digital video recorder hard disk storage system. Digital Investigation, 5(3-4), 85-92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.diin.2008.11.001 Requirements for Security Technicians - ASG - Integracom. (2016). Asgintegracom.com.au. Retrieved 30 April 2016, from http://asgintegracom.com.au/requirements-for-security-technicians/1:79/ Thiel, G. (2000). Automatic CCTV surveillance-towards the VIRTUAL GUARD. IEEE Aerospace And Electronic Systems Magazine, 15(7), 3-9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/62.854018 Appendix Appendix 1: overview of site plane Appendix 2: location of cameras as screen Read More