Security that goes beyond the deterrent

International. A video surveillance system implemented at several ATMs in Israel led to the capture of a man after he seriously injured a 78-year-old woman, who later died; after the assault, the assailant dedicated himself to looting the victim's accounts, a fact that was vital for his capture.

Everything happened because after committing the crime and proceeding to use the woman's card, the banking systems alerted the authorities to the fact that the account was being moved; the camera of the ATM of the Hapoalim Bank corroborated the above when it captured an image of the offender using the victim's card, a fact that later served for his prosecution.

The individual was subsequently arrested in a similar robbery, and the images presented by the digital recording platform, provided by the firm Visual Defence, facilitated his connection with the aforementioned crime, after which the thief had no alternative but to confess to the robbery and subsequent murder of the old woman.

Although the event happened a couple of months ago, the most important thing of all is that the bank's directives took important steps in the prevention of identity theft and that security cameras and monitoring systems helped remove from the streets a character not pleasant for the community.

To get an idea of the importance of the role of electronic security systems in the clarification of this type of crime, it is enough to quote Dagan Sadeh, CEO of Visual Defence, who stated that "recent research has shown that, in the United States alone, about 15 million people were victims of some kind of event related to theft of identity between 2005 and 2006".

Now. It is important to clarify that this is not the only case in which electronic security systems have partially neglected their role as deterrents. In Barranquilla, Colombia, on the other side of the Atlantic, the installation of security cameras allowed the reduction of crime rates by 18% during the first year of operation (2006). The success of the program was such that the police and municipal managers of this population in the north of the country decided to increase the investment, going from 80 cameras initially installed to a total of 140.

"The success of the program is manifested in the fact that, thanks to security cameras, 195 people were captured while committing different crimes. Likewise, with the support of this program, the authorities managed to seize more than 80 firearms and knives, immobilize 365 motorcycles for different irregularities, seize 6,468 grams of marijuana, 158 grams of coca base and 135 grams of basuco, and recover more than $10 million that were in the hands of criminals. said the manager of IDIS (District Institute for Investment in Security and Citizen Coexistence), Shadia Habib.

Undoubtedly, the information with which this material was produced is the best proof that at present electronic security systems are not mere luxury items, but go further, presenting themselves as tools of significant value that with results are justifying the investment made.

Now, it is true that 9-11 plunged the planet into an environment of total tension where the disclosure of any data ends up being decisive for terrorists and criminals, but if more data is published than has been achieved through the implementation of electronic security systems, very surely this will be the main sales argument for manufacturers and distributors, as many companies are not yet very convinced of investing in goods that publicly do not have a proven effectiveness.