CCTV images - the difference between monitor and identify

There are a bunch of news reports of various agencies switching to digital CCTV to monitor vulnerable areas. Many of us get the weekly and monthly government magazines as well as the daily news papers. Notice as you read the stories that they only really talk about monitoring activities. Very seldom do they talk about identification of specific individuals as their goal. These are two very specific technically challenging activities that are not necessarily supported by the same sets of technology.

As food for thought this weekend, identify the CCTV installations within your own agencies. See if you can identify their purpose; monitor, recognize, or identify. Would you know how to tell the difference? If your agency's CCTV, which was designed to monitor a large area, captured footage of a crime; would you be comfortable using the images for identification purposes? How would you approach the task of clarifying the images for use in your agency's investigation? Just some food for thought.

For more information on a CCTV system that IS designed to identify individuals and objects, click here. Have a great weekend.