Latin America's transportation industry is growing, but crime may stall that growth. We spoke with Alejandro Rodriguez, executive director of sales for Latin America at security provider Avigilon about how advances in video analytics can help improve surveillance.
Q: What is the current state of transportation security in Latin America?
A: Transportation has a huge impact on the region and the security industry. For example, air travel alone contributes more than $153 billion in Latin America and the Caribbean.1 And there has been a marked increase in port activity in Colombia, which showed growth of 13.1 percent last year.2
Given the enormous importance of the transport industry, it is critical to keep ports, terminals and cargo facilities safe and secure to keep goods moving. When considering a transportation model holistically, it is evident that any disruption in logistics, due to theft or other types of incidents, will affect a company's financial results.
Worldwide, cargo theft losses amount to $22.6 billion3. Cargo theft in South America occurs more frequently than in any other region of the world.4 For example, Brazil reported 17,500 truck thefts in the first six months of 2015 amounting to $263.5 million.5 million.
Video surveillance can help protect terminals, checkpoints, train stations, ports of entry and inland waterways. But cameras are just the beginning. Leveraging today's video analytics software can help turn video into a usable resource, which means turning live and recorded images into something smarter.
Innovations in megapixel surveillance cameras equipped with video analytics can help provide security personnel and law enforcement with effective tools to capture and prosecute criminals.
Q: Does the transportation industry face unique safety challenges?
A: Yes, indeed. Cargo theft is a big problem for all ports and distribution centers. Because container theft incidents typically happen between the time the merchandise is loaded and the time it reaches its final destination, the transportation industry primarily employs video as a judicial tool to review and track the shipment from start to finish in order to help reconstruct a liability and accountability analysis. By turning video into actionable information, the value of surveillance is strengthened.
By leveraging the latest advances in video surveillance that employ pattern-based object classification and tracking technology, transportation companies can help improve the accuracy of incident responses, allowing security personnel to react sooner and increase efficiency and ease of use.
Q: Can you mention some examples of how video used as a usable resource could be used to protect transportation companies?
A: Video as a practical and actionable resource can help combat criminal activity in different ways. One example is edge protection in which pattern-based object classification technology detects abnormal or suspicious behavior previously defined by users. Self-learning analysis tools without the need for manual calibration adapt and evolve over time according to the specific environment of the location where they are used.
Unlike other video sensor technologies, object classification allows the software to distinguish between vehicles, people, and those objects that do not trigger alarms, such as wild animals. For example, a car might trigger an alarm if it crosses a directional line or travels in the wrong direction. If a person or a dog crosses the same line, they would not trigger the alarm.
In addition to addressing criminal activity, comprehensive security systems can help improve transportation operations and efficiency. Suppose a company is contacted by one of its customers, who claims that only half of their order was delivered to them. With an intelligent surveillance system, that company can quickly retrieve and share video recordings of that merchandise while it is being loaded, which show that the order was dispatched in its entirety. It could be that the shipment was stolen in transit or perhaps that the customer was trying to commit fraud. In either case, that video could help protect the company's reputation and avoid liability claims for damages.
Similarly, high-definition surveillance cameras can complement the performance of tracking systems in the case of lost shipments. Video as a practical, actionable element gives companies the ability to visually verify when, where and what goods are loaded — and find those images in minutes — to make it easier to report and locate them.
Q: In what other ways can surveillance video help the transportation industry?
A: In addition to mitigating the impact of damage and loss caused by loss incidents, video can optimize employee effectiveness. Today's video technology allows administrators to benefit from a wide variety of proactive measures and applications to increase productivity, including:
- In warehouses, video can help supervisors ensure that equipment such as forklifts are being used properly by employees.
- At railway stations, alerts can be set based on how long an object remains in an area, so that people or vehicles that are loitering can be observed in real time.
- At airports, video can be used to monitor the flow patterns of foot traffic and the employment of luggage racks, in order to help determine the best location of employees in the terminal to improve customer relationships.
- Pattern-based object sorting technology can help security personnel locate lost luggage or children.
- The ability to access the system remotely from mobile devices can provide flexibility, as it allows users to view their surveillance system from anywhere with internet access.
Q: Does using high-definition cameras make any difference?
A: They make a big difference not only in the display of a scene, but in the quality of the playback. High-definition video increases recognition and identification accuracy and provides superior ability to display images in low-light conditions and in mixed lighting.
The cameras have the ability to cover a wider area with fewer of them, which optimizes the capabilities of security personnel. Additionally, image resolution can be increased while minimizing storage and bandwidth requirements and costs.
They also enable remote monitoring and provide better perimeter protection. And in combination with the self-learning analysis tool, high-definition cameras are able to instantly detect and discriminate scenes in surrounding areas, decreasing the number of false alarms.
Q:What do you think is the future of safety in the transport sector?
A: Security market leaders are evolving with a view to the future and glimpsing the possibilities of practical, exploitable and effective information. The integration of surveillance cameras and analysis systems will continue to advance to help provide companies with a comprehensive and effective solution for monitoring their facilities.
The exponential increase in sophistication in video analytics positively impacts the security sector. The accuracy of object search programs will continue to improve to provide security personnel with even more powerful tools not only for judicial purposes, after the events have occurred, but to better combat crime in a proactive manner.
Transportation in Latin America is a growing market and the surveillance industry will continue to be at the forefront of protecting airports, ports, rail lines, cruise ships and truck lines.
1International Air Transport Association, "Enabling Aviation to Drive Growth in Latin America," November 16, 2015.
2 Infrastructure Services Unit, Maritime & Logistics Bulletin #61, March 2016.
3BSI Supply Chain Solutions, "2015 Supply Chain Risk Exposure Evaluation Network (SCREEN) Global Intelligence Report." March 2016.
4Ibid.
5Rob Ward, "Cargo thefts rise in Brazil's Amazonas state as economy shrinks," Journal of Commerce. Original publication September 3, 2015, http://www.joc.com/trucking-logistics/cargo-thefts-rise-brazil-economy-shrinks_20150903.html.
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