Seeing clearly: How effective is your video surveillance system?

by charlene_voisin | October 1, 2015 9:00 am

By David J. Sexton

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Video surveillance equipment remains one of the fastest growing segments of the alarm industry and can be a key component of effective store security. If your business has a system, are you sure it’s performing as it was designed to? As with all security equipment used in protecting your business, its proper operation, care, and maintenance are crucial. Keep these tips in mind to ensure your video surveillance system is protecting you as it should.

Ready, set, action

Video surveillance systems today are designed to cover a wide variety of functions. The configuration and size of your camera network greatly depends on the specific functions you want your system to provide. Your physical environment also needs to be carefully considered in the design and placement of cameras once you have decided what areas of your business you want to protect. Your guiding light in this regard will be the quality of your recorded image given the intended function.

From a crime-prevention perspective, the configuration and placement of cameras in your surveillance system is critically important. Test the quality of the recording captured by your system by having staff walk in and out of your store to confirm the appropriate placement of cameras. If you can’t make out your own staff member’s identifying characteristics, it will be difficult for law enforcement to use your recordings to positively identify suspects in a criminal investigation.

In some retail jewellery settings, cameras may be visible, deliberately positioned as a visual deterrent, while in other cases, they may be surreptitiously placed so as not to be observed by the general public visiting the store. Many retail jewellers post signs declaring their premises are under video surveillance 24 hours a day.

You may want to locate your system’s recorder in a concealed area and backup your recordings either off-site or in the cloud. If the physical recorder is stolen, you will still have access to your recordings. Some jewellers use two recorders—one in an obvious place and one in a concealed area—to throw off criminals intent on removing the store’s recording device. 

Operation and upkeep

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Develop written procedures for the operation, care, and maintenance of your surveillance system, and make sure your associates are trained in applying them. Assign one or more employees with the daily responsibility of checking the surveillance system to ensure it, as well as each camera in the system network, is operating properly. 

Your video surveillance system should operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In addition to carrying out the routine care and maintenance on your video surveillance system equipment as recommended by its manufacturer and/or distributor, you should also request a complete diagnostic check on your system from a qualified provider at least once a year. This could either be the company you purchased the equipment from and/or the one responsible for your system’s design and installation. In many cases, this could also be your alarm service provider. This annual checkup can be a time to review what is new in video surveillance and how to enhance your current system, if required.

Backing up footage

Have a plan to securely store your recordings so you are prepared to review or share them with law enforcement.

It is recommended to keep your recordings for a minimum of four weeks and even longer if possible. Consider the following options to backup your surveillance recordings:

• Digital video recorder (DVR)—Just like you’d record a TV show at home, using a DVR lets you capture a recording for when you’re ready to watch it. DVRs can typically store a large amount of video and can be set to record only when a motion sensor is triggered, if you choose.
• Hard drive—A computer hard drive can serve as a good backup for video files. Keep in mind hard drives are all at risk of failing eventually. That’s why it’s important to use a hard drive as a backup, though not as your sole storage system.
• CDs or DVDs—If your system records to CDs or DVDs, store them so they aren’t exposed to extreme temperature or humidity changes. In addition, avoid keeping them in sunlight.
• USB sticks or SD cards—The same protocol for CDs and DVDs applies to their more compact counterparts. Due to the smaller size of USB sticks and SD cards, they may be easier to misplace, so it is important they are always kept in the same secure place.
• Off-site storage on the cloud—For a monthly fee that may be less than the cost of disks or a hard drive, you can store your recordings via a cloud service so they’re accessible to you at any time on any device.

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Having properly stored recordings can be extremely important in the event you are the victim of a crime and to assist your local law enforcement agency in its search for and successful prosecution of the criminal(s) involved. Video recordings and photos can also be shared among jewellers through Jewellers Vigilance Canada (JVC) to alert others in your area, identify patterns of crimes throughout the industry, and assist in quickly bringing the criminal(s) to justice. 

Before you lock up tonight, be sure to take a few minutes to test your surveillance system. 

David J. Sexton, CPCU, is vice-president of loss prevention consulting at Jewelers Mutual Insurance Co., in the United States. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Sexton serves on the Underwriters’ Laboratories’ (UL) Security Systems Council, where he is a corporate member of the insurance category. He also sits on the board of directors for Jewellers Vigilance Canada (JVC), and worked on the Central Station Alarm Association’s (CSAA’s) Insurance Liaison Committee that assisted in the development of the UL burglar alarm modular certificate program and revised UL standard. Comments and questions can be sent to lossprevention@jminsure.com[4].

For training resources regarding safety and security when carrying or working with jewellery, visit JM University at JewelersMutual.com[5]. Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company is the only company specializing exclusively in jewellery insurance in the United States and Canada. It is licensed in all 50 U.S. states and Canada. 

Source URL: https://www.jewellerybusiness.com/features/seeing-clearly-how-effective-is-your-video-surveillance-system/

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