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IFSEC Insider, formerly IFSEC Global, is the leading online community and news platform for security and fire safety professionals.
January 1, 2014

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Redefining city-wide safety with ‘Safe Cities’

As our urban centers grow and evolve around the world, how to best safeguard hundreds of thousands – or even millions – of people has emerged as a major concern. In many cities, effective security networks exist but operate independently. Unfortunately, during an emergency, ‘siloed’ information does little to help first responders, law enforcement officials and others to assess and react appropriately. That’s why today’s sprawling, bustling cities call for a relatively new concept in surveillance: the safe city solution.

 

Safe cities integrate video surveillance data from disparate resources in a municipal area in order to help provide officials with a holistic view of their city and create more effective situational awareness during natural disasters, terrorist attacks, large events and even daily commutes. Consider the incredible awareness that comes from being able to track a suspect from a stadium to a subway station, onto the train and to a park across town. In some cities, officials may even be able to access surveillance data of private surveillance networks, such as retail and corporate facilities or even participating residential properties. This type of integration allows officials to respond in real time to events as they unfold, no matter where they occur.

 

Unified Approach

 

Following an incident, a safe city is able to provide video evidence for criminal prosecution when necessary. Who could forget Boston officials’ well-executed search for the marathon bombers in April? In that case, the city’s vast surveillance network served police officers well; Boston PD was able to access the feed of retail businesses’ surveillance cameras to help locate the suspects. Verint offers a unified approach that increases visibility and insights for safe city efforts, leveraging data from strategic sensors and devices to identify areas of interest evenbefore an emergency escalates.

 

Solutions in action: A focus on Surat, India Verint helped Surat, India, put its safe city plans into action. The sprawling city, located in the state of Gujarat, is home to about 4.5 million people. Surat officials wanted to better ensure the safety and security of residents while also protecting the many key industries that call the city home, including diamonds, textiles, engineering, and oil and gas properties.

In January, Surat launched the first stage of its Safe City Project, which features a state-of-the-art 24/7 video surveillance and security command center that centrally monitors, aggregates and analyzes multiple surveillance feeds, all to support proactive physical security management of the city. The center also includes a city mapping capability that provides reports on physical security and fire alarm and water levels, along with evacuation and disaster recovery plans.

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