After an installation in downtown Cologne, as featured in the June 2017 print issue of Professional Security magazine, Essen, the major conurbation in the Ruhr region, has also decided to use Panomera CCTV. The city’s police force can use video surveillance for safety of public areas.
In Cologne, after familiarising itself with the requirements of the project, Dallmeier created a pioneering, in German public space terms, video surveillance system for public safety. Through use of the patented Panomera, it was possible to install what the product manufacturers Dallmier term a comprehensive yet discreet video solution.
Until now, the firm says, it seemed that the only logical way to guarantee full coverage of large open spaces with visibility challenges was to set up large systems consisting of as many cameras as possible. In most cases it was found that such an approach can be prohibitively expensive; and it was often simply not technically possible to create satisfactory solutions. Dieter Dallmeier, founder and CEO of the German video manufacturer Dallmeier says: “This was why in the past at least 30 to 40 per cent of such projects were not even attempted.”
The Panomera multifocal sensor system was developed for video surveillance of expansive areas. With Panomera, the makers say, huge widths, as well as areas with long distances can be displayed with a new resolution quality, in real time and at high frame rates of up to 30 frames per second (fps). This enables an expanse to be monitored from a single location. At the same time, the resolution is almost infinitely scalable so that it can fulfil the respective police observation mission. Compared with conventional projects with single-sensor cameras, which often require dozens of devices to cover large areas, the number of installation points can be reduced through the use of Panomera. One Panomera with eight sensors can replace as many as 35 standard megapixel cameras, it’s claimed.
The Essen Police Force chose a district in the northern part of the Inner City, described as a focal point for crime as the first deployment site for the new system. According to the police, people in that district, known as the “Rheinischer Platz” (pictured) felt significantly less safe. The camera housings installed around the square have up to eight different lenses, thus replacing as many as 30 cameras.
The primary aim police stress was to add to residents’ sense of safety and to ensure that particularly the entrance to the underground railway there was no longer perceived as frightening. Passive video surveillance used elsewhere had already proven inadequate for this purpose. With what the manufacturers described as the active video surveillance, Essen police have foiled an imminent bank robbery and made arrests linked to the selling of narcotics.
The protection of personal data is governed by stringent laws in Germany. These were also taken into account during planning of the Essen system. For example, certain zones in the image can be hidden entirely by the camera capture mechanism, or faces and car number plates can be rendered unrecognisable by pixellation. Storage of the data is also subject to a time limit; it is only backed up if reasonable grounds for suspicion exist and for evidentiary purposes in court.
Instead of simply having to assume that a large number of installed surveillance cameras would somehow bring about a significant reduction in criminality, police in Essen now can carry out targeted, active video observation. Potentially dangerous situations can be detected even before they become incidents. Fast response forces can be alerted rapidly and guided to the site of interest. And if a crime is committed “under the noses” of the Panomera, it supplies evidence for a court of law and as the basis for criminal investigations.
