Dowry Security is revolutionising off-site security surveillance one suburban street at a time.
The idea is that the big eye in the sky will be on every street and assist the police, local neighbourhood watches and residents in general to detect crime, follow crime patterns and curb crime in their respective areas. Dowry manager Bruce Webster spoke to the record about the extensive, technologically up-to-date operation. In essence camera boxes will be installed, courtesy of Dowry, on main roads and in high crime spots on streets in Roodepoort. The cameras will serve to monitor these areas for crime and related incidents. The first camera of its kind in South Africa was put up in Galena Street, Helderkruin, thanks to the cooperation of the HelderKloof Neighborhood Watch and sector police.
“These cameras all link back to the Dowry Security control room/s, where we will be monitoring the footage,” says Webster.
“The footage will be shared with the police if linked with a possible crime, suspicious vehicle or other incident on the road that is of interest to them.
“We think that this is the best possible community service we can render at this stage, having taken into account the latest in technological advances, and we hope to get Roodepoort involved.”
Sector policeman Donald Niehaus welcomes the idea, saying that it will sharpen the community’s awareness of their surroundings.
“This is heaven for us,” he tells the record.
“We’re hoping that it grows so much that the entire Roodepoort area will be constantly monitored.
“It makes the job of identifying a criminal and prosecuting him or her that much easier – and we can catch them in the act and have evidence.”
Webster says the operation is open to additional cameras, should residents so wish, that can be linked to the network.
“We’re putting them up in areas that were identified as crime hotspots first and will monitor every camera 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“We would love for residents to say, ‘I want one of those in my street too’, to get together and discuss and motivate it and to club in to sponsor such a camera.”
If they could create a grid of cameras all over Roodepoort, Webster says, crime could be considered eradicated.
“Constant, live monitoring by security professionals and alert residents could help us not only to catch our current criminals but scare away those who want to target us.”
Webster says the next four cameras of this nature are bound to go up in the next three weeks, after which he hopes the operation to become so popular that they’ll add a new camera to the grid every month.
What does it look like and how does it function?
“We have been striving for better technology to curb crime,” Webster says. The Dowry IT specialists have been hard at work to develop a similar camera system to the one that is being used in the UK. The first camera in Galena Street in Helderkruin is a three-camera system, Webster says. A box on a pole has three cameras attached to it – one facing left, one facing right and a third attached to the bottom of the box. Should power problems arise, the cameras have a back-up battery that can record footage for up to 12 hours after the power has been cut. The high-definition footage will be monitored from the Dowry control room/s but also can be accessed by neighbourhood watches and residents that are involved in the operation.
“The footage can be made available on your cellphone or you can connect to it easily via the internet using an IP address and WiFi,” says Webster.
“Basically you now can sit virtually anywhere and see exactly what is happening in your street,” says HelderKloof Neighbourhood Watch vice chairman Koos van Dyk.
In addition, Webster says, some of the cameras that they plan to set up on main routes will include registration plate recognition technology.
“If a suspicious vehicle is noted and his route traced using the cameras, we can confirm the registration plate and justice can follow,” says an impressed Niehaus.
Will it invade our privacy?
The short answer is no, Webster tells the record. Each camera is marked as a Dowry off-site surveillance camera, so residents who are aware of them will be able to identify them easily. These cameras will be positioned to view both up and down the street and directly in its vicinity (below it, around it).
“Your property won’t be affected, though,” he says. “The cameras are meant to monitor the streets and intersections and won’t have a view of any property.
“I won’t see into someone’s yard or even their front door when I monitor it.”
How much will it cost me?
The camera boxes or units and the setting up price at about R20 000. Each camera box with its three cameras has signage on it, is lightning resistant and comes with a backup battery system in case of power failure. A shorter street (20 plus houses) might use one such camera but longer streets will need two cameras, amounting to about R40 000 a street.
“It’s not that expensive if the community decides on them together and clubs in,” says Webster.
The record tested his theory in one short and one long street in Witpoortjie. In a street with around 28 houses, should each household contribute to the installation of the camera, each household will contribute around R720. In a longer street with around 58 houses, each household, should they agree to it, could pay as little as R350 toward the cause – unless two cameras are necessary, in which case it would cost around R700.
“We welcome private residents and business to get involved and make their areas safer.”
“Residents can help sponsor a camera in their street or could contribute towards a camera for one of the main routes or crime hotspots.
“Businesses also can make monetary donations towards such installations.”
No installation fee will apply as Dowry sees this as a community project, and will install it themselves.
