UPDATE – COMMUNITY CAMERA INITIATIVE - Doornrandje and Laezonia Community Safety Sector Sub-Forum

24/09/2023

We asked our community to do something extraordinary, and together we have so far raised approximately R27 750.00 in less than a month. This has been nothing short of a remarkable achievement and a testament to our community’s commitment to taking back our suburbs.

ALPHA TESTING PHASE

Extensive testing of 2 versions of cameras have been conducted over a period of two months, being the *V380 Pro 5G WiFi & DG SIM Solar 5.0MP Smart PTZ Cameras* and the *Andowl Q-S33 Solar Wifi Outdoor Smart IP PTZ Camera*.

The DLSSF Committee with the advice of other parties have determined that there are no substantial differences between the two cameras in terms of technical specifications but a slight advantage exists with the V380 Pro in terms of additional functionalities including:

Auto tracking features
An easily installable desktop application allowing for control room features
Pricing. The current retail price for the V380 Pro is about R1600 for the WiFi version and R2000 for the SIM version, whereas the Andowl is about R2500 before possible discounts with batch orders.
A simple calculation demonstrates that with the Andowl option we are able to purchase 11 cameras but with the V380 Pro option, 17 cameras. With the V380 Pro option it will also be easier to finally raise the funds for 40 cameras.

Of course the camera installation will not only be the camera cost but some installation costs will also need to be covered as well as possible purchase of monthly data bundles where the preferred location of the camera cannot make use of a resident’s WiFi. Even so, coupled with the purchase of solar PIR Alarms we are still able to cover substantial areas with improved security installations. Storage TF cards will also need to be purchased for each camera.

BETA TESTING PHASE

The DLSSF Committee have now completed the Alpha testing phase and will proceed with the Beta testing phase installing cameras at various locations across the suburb. The BETA testing will also verify the connectivity of the cameras using various WiFi / Internet platforms, ranging from Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, Telkom, Gironet, New Wave, Voice and Data and other service providers. We are of course hoping that local service providers will be able to assist with reduced monthly data plans.

COMMUNITY MEETING

A draft plan for the location of the first phase for the installation of cameras and solar PIR alarms has been compiled and will be subject to consultation with the community.

*A date for the community meeting will be announced shortly.*

At the outset it must be acknowledged that this first phase must of necessity focus on the primary access points into our suburbs.

Further roll out phases will then focus on intra suburb locations until all streets or intra suburb road intersections have cameras installed. Our ultimate target for year 1 is 40 cameras.

Some residents may intend installing cameras themselves at their own properties. If they would like to have any street facing cameras connected to a secured community network we would request that the V380 Pro camera is used at such location points or that they contact the DLSSF committee to determine which camera would be most suited for this purpose.

Some residents may have already installed other cameras such as the Andowl. These too can be connected to a separate desktop application which can monitor the Andowl cameras. We do of course want to limit the number of desktop applications needed to monitor these cameras.

THE CONTROL ROOM AND CELLULAR APPS

Accessing the cameras can be achieved using either the cellular apps as well as the Control Room app.

Below are video clips demonstrating the Desktop Application and some cursory notes:

Each camera can be set to High or Standard (HD/SD) Definition. We need to acknowledge at the outset that these cameras are not number plate recognition cameras. A decent single number plate recognition camera who cost at the very least R20 000 or more.
The cameras can be set to auto tracking or tracking via a PTI facility on the cellular phone or Control Room.
The cameras can also be set to announce a message to a pedestrian, such as “You are under surveillance”, during specified periods (for example, between 22:00 and 04:00).
Embedded lights can be switched on remotely.
Using the cellular application the user can speak directly to a pedestrian via the camera and hear any responses.
The cameras have AI and will identify between motion detection and human detection and send an alert to the control room and people on the monitoring software, so nothing is missed even when not actively monitoring the camera
The cameras store video and image data for up to a week depending on the size of the data storage card. Cloud options are available but at an additional cost.

OUR COMMUNITY – A GAME CHANGER IN FIGHTING BACK

We are of no doubt that this initiative will fundamentally change how we are able to track, record and respond to criminal incidents.

A simple illustration of this is that once we have sufficient cameras embedded in our suburb we will:

Be able to have designated Control Room operators viewing cameras from the safety of their houses.

Negotiate with our security providers to install the V380 Pro Control room at their own control rooms.

Be in a position to direct security providers and community patrollers to specific areas block of specific areas or streets.

EXAMPLE

Assuming we can raise the funds to install cameras in Main Road, corner of Lewis, Bodley and Combrink and Bodley itself, if an incident were to occur at plots located in these areas, the Control Room operator will immediately be able to access the Control Room, live stream all the available cameras and try and locate the movement of the suspects. The same principle would apply to any area in our suburbs.

The Control Room operator will also be able to access stored images and video clips at the time and potentially determine the number of suspects, any vehicles being used, the direction of the suspects and so forth.

Security providers and community patrollers can then in the interim be deployed to the correct locations.

As the suspects move through our streets, we will be able continuously monitor them and track them down.

Any movement on these cameras, 24/7, is recorded on the data storage cards and can be retrieved in needed within the recorded period.