Re: A "physical security" question - "cameras" versus "boots on the ground" - best practices

[Valdis Kletnieks <Valdis.Kletnieks () VT EDU>]

On Wed, 27 Apr 2011 10:25:52 MDT, "SCHALIP, MICHAEL" said:

> Putting in cameras is fine - but then folks are trying to figure out
> "....who's going to be watching the camera feed?"  The other question that was
> asked was, "What is more of a deterrent - a security camera - or taking the
> cost of 30 cameras and hiring another pair of boots to walk around??"

Asking "Who will be watching" assumes that somebody *is* actually going to
watch the camera feeds. For the vast majority of security cameras out there,
the feed is *not* watched, but recorded for use in case something happens.

http://www.policies.vt.edu/5617.pdf  is our policy - which contains this:

"Although the physical cameras may be identical, the functions of these cameras
fall into three main categories:

A. Property Protection: Where the main intent is to capture video and store it
on a remote device so that if property is reported stolen or damaged, the video
may show the perpetrator. Examples: an unstaffed computer lab, an unstaffed
science lab, or a parking lot.

B. Personal Safety: Where the main intent is to capture video and store it on a
remote device so that if a person is assaulted, the video may show the
perpetrator. Examples: a public walkway, or a parking lot.

C. Extended Responsibility: Where the main intent is to have the live video
stream in one area monitored by a staff member in close proximity. In this case
video may or may not be recorded. Example: a computer lab with multiple rooms
and only one staff."

Note that in only the third case is there an expectation that anybody is
watching it.  The first two cases end up being a massive data management
problem, not an eyeballs problem (they are proposing a *lot* of cameras, and
this campus is actually pretty boring to 3 or 4 9's worth of the time, so some
poor soul is going to end up managing a *lot* of disk storage...

(Full disclosure - I work in the network storage and backup group, so said poor
soul(s) will probably end up being in my team...)

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