by Héctor Gómez Pérez
Psychology has long been given the task of studying human behavior and the performance of individuals in the mass environment. The findings have revealed that their behavior is not governed by predictable logics, that it is based on imitation and that these transient behaviors lead people to form a single being: anonymous and that also feels protected by that anonymity. Gregarious instinct was called by Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis.
Latin America has witnessed the way in which mass behavior has been the cause of uprisings, riots and looting of commerce, as happened recently in Colombia following the closure of several illegal money collectors, and that led the contradictory demonstrators of the government measure to recover their possessions by the de facto means. There have also been problems of violence in stadiums in Brazil and Argentina, just to mention a few examples, as a result of the so-called "barras bravas".
The place that underwent the following case study is a site intended to house large numbers of people who attend concerts, plays and other large-scale shows: The Palacio de los Deportes de México, in the capital of this Latin American country. Currently this venue that can accommodate more than 20,000 people for a fair or exhibition and 17,831 for a concert, is managed by the Operadora de Centro de Espectáculos (Ocesa), a company that is part of the largest entertainment conglomerate in the Aztec country: the Inter-American Entertainment Corporation (CIE).
The security installation, as explained by the engineer Valdez, "consisted of a remote surveillance system (CCTV) and had as its main objective to serve as visual support to the operations and security personnel, since being a property with a very wide perimeter it is necessary to be monitoring and visualizing the area, in order to verify through the cameras the massive behavior of the people who visit us and take quick and effective actions in the face of any eventuality."
The context
The Palacio de los Deportes is a building that began to be built in 1966 and was completed in 1968, the year in which Mexico hosted the Olympic Games. After these jousts the enclosure was relegated to minor activities and by 1990 Ocesa received permission from the Government of the Federal District for the rehabilitation and operation of this space. Since then the Palacio de los Deportes has undergone different improvements (the closed circuit television system has been one of the last) that have allowed it to become an important reference in Mexico City for the realization of events of various kinds such as concerts and sports shows.
Suffice it to say that the year immediately before had among other shows the concerts of Emmanuel, Celine Dion, Drake Bell, Kenya West, Maroon 5, Möntey Crüe and Sara Brightman and the sports shows of the Harlem Globetrotters and the X Games of Mexico, just to mention a few.
Why a CCTV?
"Security is not something that can be taken for granted, that is why countering this concept we seek innovative, adapted and concrete technological measures, focused on the application of electronic security to this property of entertainment and healthy recreation." With these words, engineer Carlos Valdez explained the reasons that led CIE to implement the closed circuit television system composed of equipment from the manufacturer Bosch.
"This system produces a deterrent effect and creates in the viewer the feeling of security. In addition, ant robberies, excesses and situations within the property that are harmful to the public are avoided and there is greater efficiency in the operation and logistics of mass events, "said Valdez.
In general terms, the technology offered by Bosch was composed of high-resolution cameras (fixed and mobile) with the best levels of light sensitivity and lenses that cover the areas at strategic points of the property. It also has digital recorders and peripherals that are monitored from a centralized point and easy access to all areas, in order to take measures and execute quick actions in the face of any eventuality.
The Bosch brand was selected for the security solution after a series of technical/economic evaluations and that according to the manager of audio, video and electronic security of CIE has been a good investment and "has put to the test what we analyze in field and theory".
Sports and music, but for sure
The installation of the CCTV in the Palacio de los Deportes was completed in August 2007 and the firm that carried it out was Logen S.A de C.V, a company with more than 25 years of experience in the market. His election was made after a competition with bosch brand distributors in Mexico City.
In total the installation has 43 cameras, nine of which are PTZ model ENVE-2460, better known as envirodomo, which have 26x lenses and day / night quality. "For that year it was the best mobile camera in the Bosch catalog, since it surpassed equipment from other brands for some technical reasons. The rest were fixed cameras of high definition, day / night, with varifocal lenses of 3.5 to 8 mm and housings with heater and fan, "said Valdez and added that "for this case different brands were analyzed in terms of image quality, characteristics of sensitivities and accessories, as well as the guarantees and the number of distributors; obviously the price also played a fundamental part, but in the area of technology we have the culture of investing in something functional and that meets the particular requirements. For these reasons we are inclined to this brand that has remained in the FIELD of CCTV as one of the main and with the best quality standards".
For the digital recording the Bosch Divar video recorder was used "in my opinion one of the best because its architecture is versatile, free of viruses for being embedded, it has a compact design, but powerful in its functions, its software is in Spanish which makes it very friendly. It also allows you to cascade devices such as a jostick with a screen and presets."
This electronic security system did not replace any other, since only until 2007 the Palacio de los Deportes de México could have a CCTV.
Monitoring and results
The monitoring of the images is done in an analogous way, as explained by Valdez by the fact of being able to track in real time and without letting any image or scene pass. "Nowadays there is a lot of talk about IP technology, but for a good application very robust engineering is required. Our monitoring system allows us to visualize the system through the network, although we have some loss of quality and delay in the images, it is not a fundamental issue since we only use it as a way to check that the system and the cameras are working properly, "said Carlos Valdez.
As explained by our guest, the main complication at the time of the installation of the system were the distances and ways to reach each camera location, which was solved by implementing more direct routes and carrying out a punctual survey in order to have an optimal quality of the image and compliance with the established norms and standards.
For Valdez, the current results of the system could not be better, so much so that he has been thinking about using the Bosch brand as the main platform for the different CIE security solutions. He also points out that the equipment has been stable, although he is aware that the guarantee of a smooth operation lies in a permanent maintenance of the equipment.
It also onsidera that there is a high level of satisfaction in the group responsible for security and operation in the Palacio de los Deportes "since the established logistics have improved and taken a course of successes and improvements for electronic security," as he explained.
Faced with the question of whether this electronic security system has allowed them to identify a person or a group of people committing an improper act, engineer Valdez has pointed out that fortunately this type of situation has not occurred, in his view, thanks to "the fact that the system has become an icon of deterrent surveillance that significantly influences the way of thinking of a criminal" since he does not risk being captured by the authorities due to the CCTV registration.
Finally, this expert believes that Mexico is the spearhead of electronic security systems and issues of illicit prevention in the region thanks to these equipment, especially in private companies where the necessary measures have been implemented to reduce crime rates.
