This new form of assault consists of robbing the victims when they are in the process of opening or closing the door of their houses from their vehicle, which is stolen from them by armed hand.
By Juan Pablo Reed Addison Smith*
For three years, the term 'portonazo' was introduced into the language of the authorities and Chilean society to typify a crime that, far from being controlled, has been increasing; only between January and May of this year, 727 cases were registered, which significantly exceeds the 491 of 2017, and even the 636 of 2016, when this phenomenon began to be measured.
This new form of assault consists of robbing the victims when they are in the process of opening or closing the door of their houses from their vehicle, which is stolen from them by armed hand. Precisely, according to the latest National Urban Survey of Citizen Security, the attempted theft of vehicles went from 2.2% in 2015 to 3.3% last year.
Although there have been efforts on the part of the Government and the Carabineros of Chile to mitigate this situation, it has not yet been possible to control a phenomenon that can occur anywhere in the country. In Santiago alone, this crime has migrated to different communes where until now it appeared in isolation. The only thing that these entities have done is to monitor bands grouped by this modality; however, those who act separately leave the authorities with their hands tied to prevent this type of crime.
Systematic actions
One of the actions that the common citizen should adopt is to automate everything corresponding to access control: from gates to bars, as long as they do not have to get off the car in which they are transported. And although in the face of an armed assault there is very little that can be done, due to the exposure to being shot through the glass, a preventive measure is to have a video surveillance system for the subsequent identification and tracking of criminals.
This system allows to track the assailants once these crimes have been committed and track where they escape or walk most frequently. Thus, through the security cameras installed by the municipality, the operator of the video surveillance system has managed to determine that there is a vehicle that normally surrounds the sector and does not tend to be home. In this way, the alarms are activated and the police are called, who on several occasions have been able to arrest several criminals before committing the crimes.
To support this work, the company Hanwha Techwin has the X Series, which includes cameras with internal analytics through the installation of software of a partner company to do face recognition. Likewise, it is possible to read the patent plate in order to determine if the vehicle that is suspiciously around in the sector has a theft charge or not.
The illicit happened, and in case it occurred at night, these cameras have infrared (IR) technology of 50 meters that work with zero light. Likewise, cameras capable of directional remote control and zoom (PTZ) are available. These manage to take up to 350 meters away, thanks to an intelligent IR; as the camera's zoom forwards, the IR increases in power.
Finally, these equipment have auto tracking. This means that, once a criterion is detected from the camera's settings, the camera automatically follows it and does not lose it until it stops having an angle of view.
The devices are available, coordination between the circuits of the national police and the municipality is lacking. Therefore, a great alternative is to develop a smart city technology that integrates both these systems and those of individuals and can be interconnected under a large system that strongly combats this type of crime.
But in turn, the use of this technology would allow the municipality to attack phenomena such as traffic congestion in sectors such as downtown Santiago. Through cameras with Fisheye lens (fisheye), of the P line, heat maps could be generated to quantify the vehicles that converge there and help promote ecological transport that favors the mobility of public transport and bicycles. That's part of the functional life of an intelligent system.
*Juan Pablo Reed Addison Smith is Sales Director for the Southern Cone of Hanwha Techwin Latin America.
