Business owners sometimes underestimate the power of parking lot security cameras. They think a camera just records what happened for you to look at after the damage is already done. That used to be true, but not anymore. Today’s smart surveillance systems take the standard camera and give it a brain.
With motion sensing and AI-assisted pattern recognition features, your camera does so much more. It can:
- Recognize and detect movement and motion, especially after-hours when most of your team is home.
- Read and recognize license plates that may not belong to your team, vendors, clients and note patterns when that vehicle enters and leaves your parking lot.
- Flag patterns of behavior that need to be noticed like loitering or “casing” your parking lot.
- Send real-time alerts to key members of your team who can review the footage and quickly respond.
- Call the police or emergency responders if needed.
Imagine someone has been entering your parking lot every night for two weeks. Sometimes they arrive on foot dressed all in black, and sometimes in a car. One of today’s motion detection security cameras and smart surveillance systems may recognize both their face and license plate to give a timeline of their activity.
Otherwise, you wouldn’t notice until they enter your building or break into a car. Even once something happens, your team would need to spend hours scrubbing footage to find this information.
It All Starts With Motion Detection
FBI research found that parking lots rank third as where assaults are most likely to happen. This statistic shows why it is so important to have cameras with motion sensors in your parking lot. If an employee working late is attacked, your team and the police can be on the scene right away, possibly de-escalating the crime.
Motion detection security cameras have been a commercial video surveillance staple for years. They are often linked with lights that turn on so you can see what is happening. Now that same technology can do even more.
Parking areas were one of the areas where CCTV cameras have the most impact at decreasing crime, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. But that’s when someone is actively monitoring the area and responding to incidents. Motion sensing and AI-assisted surveillance empower your team to act quickly while reducing time wasted on false alarms.
When your camera detects motion, it can flag that moment in real time or after the fact, when your system notices unusual behavior. If you have on-site security or contract with a security service, this can bring your team’s attention right to the action. They can call police, ambulance, or key stakeholders if needed. Or they can simply show up and stop vandalism or theft before it happens.
Benefits to integrating your camera with smart motion sensing technology include:
- You and your team receive after-hours alerts to take immediate action if needed.
- It actually may reduce false alarms if your system allows you to look at the footage remotely.
- Your security team has a faster response time, whether the “team” is just you, an in-house staff member, or an off-site security company.
A Better Awareness of Who Enters Your Parking Lot
AI-assisted face, vehicle, and license plate recognition makes your parking lot security cameras even more powerful. The system can note who accesses your parking lot and building. It might note unrecognized or unauthorized users, too.
When paired with remote surveillance tools, you can check the footage to make sure it isn’t just a trusted staff member using a rental car while their usual vehicle is in the shop. And, if it turns out that trusted team member is up to something, you may notice something is wrong before losing valuable IP, money, expensive equipment, or reputation.
The ability to check cars entering your parking lot against any watchlists for stolen cars also protects your business and community from becoming a target. When it comes to liability protection, a smart security system offers protection that previously required a large dedicated team.
The Associated Press reported that commercial properties were the targets for around 25% of burglaries. Increasingly, police and security agencies use License Plate Recognition technology to crack down on theft. With modern cameras, your business can also benefit from this crime fighting technology.
Building Evidence and a Timeline
Pattern recognition helps prevent future problems and also helps you investigate if something happens. A camera system that notes patterns, recognizes faces and license plates, and works with your building access control system can provide evidence if you need it.
In the past, someone would need to scrub hours of video surveillance footage and key pad access records to simply create a timeline of when someone enters your parking area or building. Your team saves valuable time to follow up on leads. They can look at the most relevant footage and may notice something important.
Add real time alerts to the same technology and you can potentially stop theft or vandalism while it is happening. If someone has an accident, you can send an emergency response team immediately. If you have an on-site guard, the system can tell them to check out what’s happening even if they are doing a routine walk-through on the other side of your campus. They can see what is happening and get back up or call the police if needed.
Researchers analyzed over 250,000 crime reports and found CCTV footage was available for 45% of the crimes. Most of the crimes that had footage had useful evidence that helped solve the case, according to the Australian Institute of Criminology. This research was done in 2011-2015, before the current AI revolution. Imagine if tools were available to make it easy for in-house security to find the evidence that helps law enforcement?
Why Pittsburgh and Tri-State Area Businesses Need Customized Solutions
2 Krew Security and Surveillance serves the Pittsburgh and Tri-State area by creating custom security systems that suit your needs and your budget. Contact us today to learn more about how a smart camera system can help protect your business from crime, unnecessary liability, and even fraud and IP theft.
