According to research by the US National Retail Fund (NRF), most shopping centres (malls) receive 1/3 of the annual revenue during the global sales and winter holidays. At the same time, the security systems of the shopping centre are under severe stress. Improvement of the existing security infrastructure, including video surveillance in the shopping centre, must be done before Black Fridays and holidays. Let’s talk about video surveillance optimization as a set of mandatory measures.
Russian legislation imposes specific requirements on a shopping centre’s video surveillance system since these objects are places of people’s mass stay. The following factors must be observed to protect the population from possible terrorist acts in the shopping centre:
However, there are places on the territory of the shopping centre where video surveillance is strictly prohibited:
In 2021, we can talk about the following risks to which visitors, employees and tenants of the shopping centre may be exposed:
Given the scale of the mall CCTV system, it is impossible to track every camera in real-time. Also, operators cannot view the entire volume of footage.
It would help if you also considered the possible manifestation of the human factor (i.e. errors), so it can be concluded that traditional visual control methods do not provide 100% protection, especially during sales and holidays.
Optimization of the security system includes the following methods.
Biometric systems are used on the shopping centre’s territory to provide access or prohibition to controlled areas, for example, to warehouses, in office premises.
It is also worth noting the importance of non-contact biometric methods of personal identification in crowded places during a global pandemic.
Read about the benefits of biometrics for business in 2021 here.
The most popular function of intelligent video analytics for business is face recognition. The technology, based on artificial intelligence, allows to:
Also, video monitoring cameras can be configured to detect people’s suspicious behaviour, identifying possible offences.
Lost children in a shopping centre are not uncommon. The frequency of such incidents increases during the holidays, sales and school holidays. Suppose in advance, before the influx of visitors, you configure the search for children by IP cameras. In that case, the security personnel will be able to find children in the streams of people in a matter of minutes.
During working hours, video cameras can monitor visitors’ behaviour and congestion and record the observance of work discipline by the shopping centre employees.
Outside working hours, the video monitoring system can be configured to detect activity and movement in the territory of an empty centre and parking lots.
Security optimization assumes that the number of false calls will be minimized, and the shopping centre’s overall security level will increase.
An essential feature of modern video surveillance is quickly alerting the operator or law enforcement agencies when an incident occurs or people’s suspicious behaviour is detected.
For example, when a person from the list of unwanted visitors appears at the doorstep of a shopping centre, the security service will be on high alert.
Aggregated video materials can be presented as:
Analytical data helps to ensure public safety, reduce crime rates, and provide a better understanding of shopping centre visitors’ behavioural factors.
The security of a shopping centre, its premises, and visitors during the holidays and sales is not an easy task. Make it easier with software for video content analysis. We recommend using the Faceter service.
