Analytics in Action: Empowering an Urban Surveillance Command Center in Mayotte

Witnessing advancements in the use and application of technology is exciting, and we feel the impact of these innovative strides daily. But if you ask your local law enforcement officers which technology advancements they are excited about, their answer will not be the latest AI application buzzing across the internet. Law enforcement officers across the globe are getting excited about the implementation of Urban Surveillance Command Centers – known to some as Real-Time Crime Centers (RTCC) or Real-Time Intelligence Centers (RTIC) — and the far-reaching impact they have on proactive safety, reducing crime, and optimizing resource allocation regardless of the size of their communities. However, getting these hubs up and running is no easy task, requiring extensive planning and authorization to ensure physical safety is elevated while personal privacy rights are also protected.

One such RTCC recently opened in Mayotte, a small island off the coast of Africa, after the careful fulfillment of all the required responsible use prerequisites, including prominent signage to notify residents that the area is under surveillance. This Urban Surveillance Command Center, which leverages the BriefCam Video Analytics Platform as an integral part of their solution, boasts a dozen control screens that reflect images from 23 city cameras. The center is staffed 24/7 by three operators and four administrators, all who are trained, municipal police officials.

At the command center’s inaugural event, operators showed how BriefCam’s video filtering and VIDEO SYNOPSIS capabilities will critically support their ability to efficiently process and investigate 24-hour video feeds by reducing hours of video evidence into minutes and even seconds of consolidated footage. During the demonstration, one of the operators showed city officials how the BriefCam Video Analytics Platform helps locate objects based on specific criteria, giving an example of finding a red car for an investigation. The law enforcement operator made a selection from the recorded video, applied the relevant filters, and, using VIDEO SYNOPSIS, displayed all red vehicles, in one frame, with their corresponding time stamps. They ran a similar scenario for a man, with the distinguishing feature of a white cap, who had committed a theft. With a click of a button, they watched as the system filtered through thousands of people to one hundred results matching the criteria for assessment and decision-making by a qualified investigator. As with any intelligent technology, developing internal data review and decision-making processes is critical for all parties involved in internal and external compliance, and the city leaders made it clear that this is top of mind for the Urban Surveillance Command Center, which has procedures in place to maintain strict adherence to relevant legal regulations.

Urban Surveillance Command Centers and RTCCs are quickly becoming an indispensable tool for law enforcement agencies in global cities of every size. Intelligent technology solutions like video analytics can be deployed for communities needing a single site solution or deployed as a multi-site solution for a bustling metropolis. Either way, the goal is the same: make communities safer by supporting effective community policing and enhancing officer confidence with the quick and efficient reduction of crime. BriefCam is proud to support law enforcement officers and their preventative policing efforts with our mission critical video analytics solutions.

Learn more about the latest investigation accelerating innovations from BriefCam! From new features like Vehicle Make and Model Recognition (VMMR) to flexible deployment architectures, BriefCam’s 2024 M1 release is here to keep you at the forefront of the industry with video analytics. Contact us to learn more!