P-REACT - Petty cRiminality diminution through sEarch and Analysis in multi-source video Capturing and archiving plaTform

Project

nonMilitary

Petty crimes pose a more significant threat to daily life of local communities. Crime increases due to socioeconomic criteria (wealth level of local community, unemployment rate, etc.) and its impact is becoming more critical due to recent economic crisis. This high rate of criminality infects the social and commercial environment which makes citizens and business reluctant to elaboration and welfare. Moreover, it should be kept in mind that reckless confrontation to petty crimes by police or security enterprises can cause unreasonable loss of lives. FP7-SEC-2013 has identified this need and requires low cost technology based solutions that reduce criminal activity and at the same time meet the needs and financial expectations of the communities, citizens and businesses. In response to the above issue P-REACT proposes to research and develop a sensor data (video and motion) capturing and archiving network/platform that allows the protection of small businesses from petty crimes. It is based on low cost components and built in capabilities (sensors and embedded systems) interconnecting using established and emerging technologies, such as Digital Subscriber Lines and Cloud computing. The basic idea is to install low-cost cameras and smart sensors in the small business’ premises, that are networked directly to, one or more, Cloud-based, Data Centers, where their activity is continuously monitored and recorded. A potential incident detected by sensors installed in a specific store may also trigger neighbour sensors installed in other premises near the incident in order to provide the best coverage possible in terms of data gathering. Moreover, the platform will be able to receive information (images, video) captured by mobile smart devices (phones, tablets etc.) operated by users that were found ad-hoc at a place of an incident.