POPULAR Melbourne nightclub has installed facial recognition software to identify and catch troublemakers.

 

The move follows an increased rate of violence and assaults in Melbourne nightclubs, particularly a chemical bomb that was let off at Chasers nightclubs last year.

 

The nightclub in Chapel St, which already has metal detectors to screen patrons for weapons, believes the face-recognition system is one of the first in the world for nightclubs.

 

The technology was installed at Chasers on the weekend.

 

On entering, patrons’ faces are scanned by a camera and the image and driver’s licence details are stored on computer for 28 days.

 

If someone banned from the club tries to enter, their face comes up with a red mark, alerting security to a problem.

 

Management now wants the technology to be adopted in other nightclubs to create a security network.

 

Head of security Andrew McDonald said the system would work best in unison with other clubs, so that violent thugs can’t move between clubs.

 

Melbourne’s Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said the technology could help the fight against violence, and should be looked at for venues on their last warnings.

About 20 people have been banned from the club in the past three years for weapons offences, fighting, or disrespecting security staff.

 

Liberty Victoria president Michael Pearce said nightclubs would benefit from using facial recognition technology, but there were concerns about misuse of information.

 

Tsamis said Chasers’ information would be stored on a secure database, to which only she and Mr McDonald would have access.

In the event of an incident at the club, police would be given access to data as part of their investigations.

Security Industry News

Infrared thermograph helps to detect and contain the spreading of swine & bird flu and other viral diseases.

 Growing international exchange, travel, and economic migration require a consistent, prompt, effective and international viral disease prevention policy.

 Elevated human body temperature, or fever, is a convincing and reliable indicator of most human viral infections. Since the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), public health authorities around the world have been looking for a fast, easy, contactless, non-invasive and reliable method to detect elevated human body temperature differences.

 Thermograph is such a method. It has become vital to control body temperature of risk groups such as travellers and proven itself as a monitoring tool that has substantially contributed to reduce the spreading of swine flu in many countries and regions.

 

The ThermaCAM automatically detects the hottest temperature within an area, set by the operator. A color alarm makes it easy to decide whether a person needs further examination or not.

 Viral infections spread rapidly at places where large crowds gather such as airports. But viral contagious diseases unfortunately do not end with SARS. While the latter has taken lives of some 10% of the infected people, the H5N1 strain of swine influenza, in its current early stage in Asia and Europe, has a death rate of over 50%. So far, the spread of H5N1 virus from person to person has been very rare and has not continued beyond one person.

  Nonetheless, because all influenza viruses have the ability to change, scientists are concerned that H5N1 virus one day could be able to infect humans and spread easily from one person to another.

 Infrared thermograph: an effective tool to detect elevated body temperatures for swine flu

 

 

 An infrared camera is a very effective tool to detect people infected with a viral disease at a very early stage. It produces thermal images or heat pictures which allow displaying even the smallest temperature differences.

 Human body temperature is a complex phenomenon. Humans are homoeothermic; they radiate heat, which must be lost to the environment. The interface between that heat production and the environment is the skin. This dynamic organ is constantly adjusting the optimum balance between the physiologic demands of the body and external environmental conditions.

 Infrared thermograph provides a visual map of skin temperatures in real time. In addition, infrared cameras are very sensitive devices. FLIR Systems ThermaCAM series measure temperature differences as small as 0.08 ºC. The symptoms of most infectious diseases are similar – malaise, sore throat, coughs and of course fevers. Consequently, it is extremely easy to detect whether a person carries the risk of having an infectious disease or not. All that needs to be done is make an infrared image of the subject and measure if his/her body temperature exceeds a certain value.

 Thanks to the infrared camera’s built-in functions like colour and sound alarms that can be set to go off when a certain temperature threshold is being exceeded, the operator can instantly decide whether the subject needs to be referred for medical examination or not. As the infrared camera produces images in real-time, at a rate of 50 Hz, the total evaluation process takes less than a second.

 This makes infrared technology very useful for rapidly screening large numbers of people. However, a few things need to be taken into account. 

The application: measuring the temperature of the human body for swine flu

 A person’s general skin temperature is not equal to the person’s core temperature. The most practical spot on the body giving the most reliable result (where the skin temperature approaches the core temperature of the human body) is in the corner of the eyes where the lachrymal duct comes to the surface.

 It is therefore recommended to take subjects in front of the camera at a marked distance, in general at 1 to 1.6 meters away from the camera lens, so that the face fills the entire image.

 The subject only needs to look into the camera for less than a second. As the highest temperature will be measured in the corner of the eyes, people can continue to wear a mouth mask or their headwear without influencing the measurement. Glass and plastic do not transmit infrared radiation, so people need to remove their glasses in order to be examined.

 It would be advisable to set up the infrared camera at places with long queues such as passport or customs control points as persons should be screened on an individual basis. It is also recommended, though not mandatory, to install the camera on a tripod and connect it to a video screen, to facilitate the working conditions of the camera operator.

 

Camera setup to detect temperature differences for swine flu

 

Even when FLIR Systems ThermaCAM series cameras can measure temperature differences as small as 0.08°C, absolute temperature readings have an accuracy of ± 2°C. This means that if we measure a body temperature in the corner of the eye of 36°C, the real temperature could be somewhere between 34°C and 38°C.

 

 

Proof that Infrared works

It is not necessary to measure absolute temperatures to determine whether a person has an elevated temperature or not. The following procedure has been initially followed to determine if infrared measurement works: after measuring the true body temperature of approx. 10 to 25 healthy people with a medical ear

thermometer and the face temperature of these same people with a ThermaCAM infrared camera, the average temperature difference is calculated: true body temperature minus face temperature.

 

Experience has shown that this average temperature difference is fairly constant and varies between 0.8 and 1.2°C depending on the environmental conditions of the test area, such as ambient temperature, air conditioning, wind, weather conditions etc. This corresponds to the principle that the body temperature of a feverish person is about 1°C higher compared to a healthy person. Whether that average temperature turns out to be 32, 34, or 36°C is not relevant. It should be correlated to the core temperature and remain stable.

 

In practice, the camera is installed and can be used immediately: ThermaCAM automatically calculates the average temperature of the first 10 scanned people and then defines their average. Then, an alarm should be set to go off when the measured temperature reaches an average plus 1°C.

 

The purpose is to differentiate the people who are well from those that have fever and not to measure absolute body temperatures. The absolute error measured on both the threshold values and the subjects tested will be the same, as long as the camera is stable.  

A unique FLIR Systems feature:

The Automatic Temperature Compensator (ATC

FLIR Systems has equipped its ThermaCAM infrared cameras with an Automatic Temperature Compensator (ATC) to avoid generating false alarm. The ATC constantly calculates a moving average of the body temperatures from the last 10 scanned people. The two highest and the two lowest values are not taken into account when making this calculation. Based on the outcome of this calculation the ATC automatically adjusts the generation of visible and audible alarms, greatly improving the reliability of the screening.

 

Quickly scanning a large number of people by using infrared cameras with colour AND sound alarms

Temperatures are measured by full radiometric infrared cameras, not by infrared imagers. FLIR Systems offers its ThermaCAM series as optimum solutions. These systems can be battery-operated for over 2 hours or continuously connected to main power. Adhering to the IP 54 standard, they can be used either indoor or outdoor.

 

The ThermaCAM series have built-in functions to measure the highest temperature inside a given field view area. The camera will automatically detect the hottest spot. Its value is immediately displayed on the built-in LCD of the camera or on a connected video monitor. The cameras have also been optimized for fever detection as they recalibrate themselves more frequently.

 

A built-in colour alarm function enables an immediate decision whether the subject requires further examination: all areas, which are hotter than a predefined temperature value, can be immediately recognized on the infrared image.

 

In addition, FLIR Systems cameras are equipped with a sound alarm. If the temperature exceeds a predefined value, a buzzer alarm will go off. A subject activating the alarm, can easily be taken aside for further examination on site or in a medical centre for swine flu.

 

A small investment to protect public health from swine flu

Major airports in South-East Asia are already using FLIR Systems cameras and have successfully applied this methodology to screen all people entering and leaving the country. It is a quick and contactless method, which is perfectly safe for both the camera operator and the screened subject. The results are extremely satisfactory.

 

The FLIR Systems ThermaCAM cameras have proven themselves as tools that can be operated by non-specialists after a few hours of training. They enable a quick and accurate scan of a large number of people to trace fever, a major symptom of viral infections.

 

 As some officials have put it, it is a very small investment to protect public health worldwide fro swine & bird flu.

 

 Using a FLIR Systems ThermaCAM for detecting possible SARS patients:

 

• Assure that there are no hot objects such as lamps in the field of view

of the camera. The camera should be turned on at least 30 minutes

before measurement starts and carefully focused.

 

• Set the emissivity value to 0.98.

 

• Determine the average temperature of a healthy person by using an ear thermometer and an infrared camera (or utilise the built-in ATC function).

 

• Add 1°C to the average temperature of a healthy person to obtain the critical temperature.

 

• Set an area in the infrared camera.

 

• Set the colour and sound alarms to signal if the temperature within the area is higher than the critical temperature.

 

• Bring the subjects to be tested, one by one, in front of the camera. Each for about 1 second.

 

• If the alarms signal, detour the subject for further examination.

 

 

 

 

Setting up a ThermaCAM with Automatic Temperature Compensator (ATC) for viral disease detection. FLIR Systems infrared camera’s can help to prevent the spreading of viral diseases such as swine & bird flu.

 This application story is from FLIR Systems 

 

 

 

 

 

Outdoor security lighting is an essential part to any intelligent illumination theme. Commercial owners and residents alike can enhance safety around their properties with the proper type of outdoor security lighting. There are numerous outdoor security lighting fixtures available on the current market, but selecting the right ones can make all the difference between a good illumination plan and one that may not give you the desired results. Individuals need to locate a quality illumination retailer such as SSE Installations in order to get the most out of their outdoor security lighting theme.

 

Commercial owners also realize the benefits of outdoor lighting. Many business owners use floodlights to illuminate large open spaces, such as parking lot areas. These well-lit areas keep employees safe, whether they are leaving their car for a late night shift, or exiting the building to return to their vehicle. SSE Installations carries the latest in LED & halogen floodlights plus HID (high intensity discharge) fixtures for your convenience. We also carry a large variety of stock replacement parts including ballasts, sockets, timers, photocells, and much more.

ECO Living Centre

The on-going problem with many security lighting is lack of clarity and poor CCT images, or un-serviceable globes. These two problems are related to the technologies used. It’s true that lighting has become brighter and longer lasting, but and there is a big but. The new technologies come at a cost and it’s not just the initial investment or complaints from the neighbours and Local Councils because of the glare, or light pollution. Operating costs of 200W+ lamps are mounting up. Clients are taking power operating costs more seriously and in these difficult times want to ensure they are achieving savings on power and can claim to be more ‘carbon neutral’. This is difficult when relying on old technologies.  You may have heard of warm white, cool white, natural white and even Kelvin scores and be familiar with ordering lamps by their wattage. But what does all this mean and how can it matter to security lighting?

 

Let’s take the ‘seeing’ problem, it’s all to do with how the ‘eye’ sees, or more accurately responds to light waves how our brain then processes them into images. We are all aware that daylight changes colour throughout the day, from the brightness of morning and noon light to the softer warmer colours of late afternoon and sunset. In technical terms the light spectrum has shifted from the ‘blue’ end of the spectrum (400-500nm) at noon to ‘red’ (600-700nm) in the afternoon. The cones and rods in the eyes respond differently to these wave lengths.

Eco Living Centre

 

Australian Goverment

Did you know that AusIndustry (an Australian Government Initiative) have grants ranging from $50,000 to $500,000 for retro-fitting and retro-commissioning of buildings to reduce base building energy consumption? This includes projects involving common area lighting. For more information see the Green Building Fund Fact Sheet or the AusIndustry website.
Also in the news: Grants project to help buildings go green.

Video monitoring solutions from GEUTEBRÃœCK offer seamless integration and migration from analog to hybrid to pure IP systems.

Integrated solutions to address the demands of all involved, from the operator to the Admin.

The GeViScope Enterprise Surveillance System offers numerous functionalities in just one video system platform. Profit from all of this system’s advantages and determine yourself how much hardware you require. It’s all made possible by fully compatible and modular components. Brochure IP Systems (PDF 1,9 MB)

Professional peripheral products complete the portfolio.

GEUTEBRÃœCK

A LOW cost biometric device that overcomes the inaccuracies of other biometric security scanners is among three new ideas in the security sector to each receive $64,000 in Australian Government assistance to reach the market.

 

The government today announced that Wavefront Biometric Technologies of Sydney had been awarded a $64,000 grant from the Commercialising Emerging Technologies (COMET) program funding.

Security Industry News

The NSW Police supports programs that aim to reduce or prevent crime. It is recognised that CCTV can be an effective crime prevention program when it is part of a broader crime prevention and community safety strategy.

The NSW Police endorses the “NSW Government Policy Statement and Guidelines for the Establishment and Implementation of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) in Public Places”. The Government Guidelines are the basis from which to consider the development, management and operation of a CCTV program. The Police will:

Contribute to the assessment and planning phases, including initial research, risk analysis, setting objectives, camera placement and operational issues in a Program;

Through Local Area Command, determine the level of response to incidents identified by CCTV, according to available resources and existing priorities;

Contribute to the development of comprehensive Codes of Practice, Protocols and Police Standing Operating Procedures that clearly set out the operational aspects for a CCTV Program in a local area and are consistent with the Govt Guidelines. This would include practice principles encompassing, but not limited to;

nature and level of involvement of the Police in management and operation of the CCTV Program;

roles and responsibilities of all agencies involved;

communication methods between police and the scheme owner/ managers;

the scope of police response to reported incidents, routine and urgent, including early identification of potential incidents to facilitate timely police responses.

New South Wales Government
NSW Police Force

There are several ways for a person to report a crime:

In a life threatening or time critical emergency, call Triple Zero (000).

For non-urgent crime, phone the Police Assistance Line on 131 444 who will take a police report and if necessary, arrange for police to attend.

Should you wish to remain anonymous when reporting a crime, call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. It’s a free call and rewards of up to $1,000 are offered for information that leads to an arrest.

You can visit your local Police Station to report a crime.

For more information about reporting crime go to http://www.nsw.crimestoppers.com.au/

NSW Police