Fighting crime is a major task for all municipalities. While video surveillance plays an important role in this area, it only offers a visual element. A more comprehensive solution, then, is to add sound elements in it to increase administrators’ situational awareness.
That’s the argument presented by Louroe Electronics, an audio solutions provider, in its recent whitepaper called “A Sound Solution in Safe Cities.” At the outset, the paper illustrated the rampancy of crime in cities, citing FBI as suggesting a violent crime occurs once every 26.3 seconds in the United States.
To crack down on crime, cities rely on video surveillance to monitor unusual events or activities. But according to the paper, video surveillance alone may not be enough to detect crime or the start of it.
“Today, threat detection technologies and data analytics such as motion sensors, thermal imaging and license plate capture have become essential components of security solutions for the safe cities sector. However, these elements only focus on the visual factors. A truly comprehensive city security solution must include sound detection,” the study said.
Adding one- or two-way audio solutions can, for example, allow operators to listen to people in distress, give instructions to them, or scare off suspects or criminals by giving them verbal warnings. However, according to the paper, merely listening is not enough. Listening intelligently is more important. This is where audio analytics comes in.
"Today, there is research that indicates that 90 percent of physical aggression is preceded by verbal aggression. The value of an aggression detection solution is that it allows security officers to identify stressed voices and other sounds associated with anger, fear and verbal aggression,” the paper said. “Audio analytics help security and law enforcement personnel define which acoustic events are of interest and which are irrelevant. When an audio signal comes in, the sound detection software analyzes the noise based on advanced algorithms and determines whether it is a match for other sound patterns from pre-classified sources. Once a sound is identified as a positive detection, the software sends an immediate alert to security staff through the video management system (VMS). Ultimately, audio analytics are useful to municipalities because they identify the acoustic events commonly associated with crimes, alerting first responders prior to a precarious situation reaching its full potential.”
Louroe cites two most essential sound analytics for safe cities: aggression, which detects verbal abuse and hostile interactions likely to develop into assaults or altercations; and gunshot, which is for immediate notification to first responders that a firearm has been discharged. These add to outdoor microphones and two-way audio systems to form a more comprehensive audio solution that helps authorities better detect, prevent, and deal with crime, the paper said.