GSX+, the five-day live, virtual version of the exhibition formally known as ASIS International Annual Seminar and Exhibits is almost upon us. Although there will be a wide range of education sessions offered online during the conference as is typical for the in-person event, a significant amount of concurrent industry product introductions will take place as well.
Thermal Imaging
For example, FLIR is debuting the Elara DX-Series multispectral PTZ thermal camera which, according to Daniel Gundlach, Vice President and General Manager of FLIR’s Security Division, is meant to be a “mid-range” product offering for the company, just below the RANGER HDC MS long-range, pan-tilt, EO and IR multi-sensor w/ LRF, which is popular with federal, state and local agencies as well as critical infrastructure industries.
Made for outdoor and harsh environments, the DX -Series carries an IP66 rating and a -40º to +60ºC temperature range. When the DX-Series is used as a manually-controlled, multi-spectral PTZ camera for pursuit or investigation of a person or vehicle present in an area, Gundlach says “fixed cameras don’t have to be placed as you would do in a detailed assessment” layout. Although the camera does not have built-in analytics, it does feature region of interest, 31X optical zoom and a thermal E-Zoom of four times.
“DX is not a radiometric camera. You cannot use it as an elevated skin temperature or equipment with appropriate accuracy [as in the case of the FLIR T-Series plus SCREEN-EST software], but you can clearly see if the engine of a nearby vehicle is warm or running (idle),” Gundlach explains.
In critical infrastructure, this would mean the ability of rendering usable images in complete darkness, glaring light, and adverse weather conditions.
Gunshot Detection
EAGL has been busy with its first body worn gunshot sensor, known as BlueFly, which features a GPS locator providing latitude/longitude data along with “officer down” accelerometer and communication via LTE cellular or an existing EAGL gateway. All six first responder disciplines – police, fire, EMS, HAZMAT, search and rescue, and comms – have been at risk for a growing, lethal trend of dispatch to a false alarm location, where they are ambushed and shot.
In addition to automated recording of critical threats like gunshots, a single press of a yellow alert button activates a manual recording and two quick presses live streams a critical event, together with badge number, bodycam and dashcam video streams where available. BlueFly is also based on a more exacting, “statistically zero” false alarm Energy Level Waveform system.
“Most (gunshot detection sensors) are using acoustic signature match, a scientific term for a loud bang,” says Jen Russel, Vice President at EAGL. “We always went a different direction with Energy Level Waveform - it reduces false alerts, matching the ballistic signature and provides passive, automatic activation of a bodycam or dashcam.”
Turnstiles
Boon Edam is also introducing a new optical turnstile, the Speedlane Compact, which targets potential COVID-19 checkpoints for smaller spaces. The Speedlane Compact is a shorter security barrier with the same level of security as larger optical turnstile models. It features swinging barriers, generous space for access control or biometric device integration, and tailgating, safety and low-object detection sensors.
Cybersecurity
At CES 2020, SecurityInfoWatch reported the renewed focus on corporate-wide solutions that leverage a verified intrusion event timeline and threat history. When there is cross-fertilization of city, building or corporate data, unpredictable innovations and data patterns are inevitably born. If the 2010s were the decade of sensors, the 2020s add intelligence: the security industry might just have to consider retiring platform names “video management,” “physical security information management,” in favor of not just managing data, but creating useful operations from business intelligence.
Security information and event management (SIEM) is a process or platform used by a CIO or CISO, where software products and services combine security information management and security event management. They provide real-time analysis of security alerts generated by applications and network hardware.
INTRUSION’s Shield cybersecurity solution enhances the TraceCop cyber event database by using real-time, AI packet analysis to block even sophisticated cybercrime and cyberwarfare attacks. The TraceCop API enables developers to enrich their datasets with vast amounts of contextual knowledge surrounding the allocation, usage and purpose of observed communications. It also integrates into SIEM tools, network forensic products and custom applications to expedite analytic decision-making.
Emergency Communications
AppArmor has been a partner of associations in the corporate security, higher education, K-12, healthcare, public safety and law enforcement sectors, providing mobile applications and platforms for emergency alerts or pandemic status dispatched from the emergency operations center (EOC) and mobile alerts from individuals to agencies or corporate safety and security teams.
Michael Kwiatkowski, Executive Director of Campus Safety at The University of Chicago, recently spoke about the latest AppArmor product, a customized version of AppArmor Safety (mobile app push notifications) and AppArmor Alert (SMS, email, voice call).
“We used the uChicago Safe app as a force multiplier for our centralized information repository for all COVID-19 updates,” he says. “The app has been a great tool for us to reach a large portion of users and really increase traffic to centralized resources."
2020 will continue to be the year of leveraging data, intelligence and history for security, public safety and cyber intrusion prevention. Many law enforcement agencies may opt for more accurate, real-time gunshot detection to save first responder lives than body worn camera video as forensic evidence. Larger universities and corporations will consider customizable alert and information platforms in an effort to provide transparency to their communities. Critical infrastructure is so named as utilities, including power and water require multi-spectral sensor cameras at the right price. As these devices and platforms grow in use, the human platform will be used more appropriately as first responders need backup. The communication and early warning tools are no longer a luxury; their absence has a direct correlation to the loss of life.
About the Author:
Steve Surfaro is Chairman of the Public Safety Working Group for the Security Industry Association (SIA) and has more than 30 years of security industry experience. He is a subject matter expert in smart cities and buildings, cybersecurity, forensic video, data science, command center design and first responder technologies. Follow him on Twitter, @stevesurf.
