Rotterdam Police Pilot High-Resolution Surveillance to Reduce Retail Theft, Robberies

Upwards of 20 downtown Rotterdam, Netherlands, shops have deployed IQeye megapixel cameras to combat store robberies. For the Rotterdam-Rijnmond Police and the area's shopkeepers, this is the latest weapon against thieves and other "bad guys". The new camera system follows a series of other measures taken in response to an increase in robberies in this commercial district. The security camera installation signals that police want to send a clear message: no robbery will be tolerated in the Rotterdam-Rijnmond region. The Rotterdam-Rijnmond Police won a prestigious Dutch innovation award for the deployment of the IQeye surveillance camera system.

The Tobacco Shop Vivant in Rotterdam's Mathenesserweg (West District) was the first store to install IQeyes. From there in late 2008, 17 more stores in Vreewijk and the Prince's Square districts installed the smart megapixel camera system. The surveillance solution will be evaluated over a period of several months to see if it delivers the desired results for both the retailers and the police. Should the results be favorable, the retail surveillance system could potentially be deployed to hundreds of shops in the area.

The camera feeds are directly connected with Rotterdam Police Dispatch through Milestone Systems' XProtect video management software. When a shopkeeper experiences a robbery attempt or perceives trouble, he presses a button that activates the strategically placed megapixel cameras and a live feed is directly transmitted to the police control room. The robbers are filmed in high resolution providing razor-sharp images. In addition to the live feed feature, the IQeye 702s are continuously recording to a 16 GB CF memory card in the camera itself using IQrecorder software, so the shopkeeper has a record of all incidents.

Upon alarm, police units are immediately sent to the store. If the thieves are not caught in the store, police can track their movements using city street cameras. Should the robbers manage to escape, the IQeye's high-resolution images can be used to identify them. The megapixel images give police a superior description of the suspects. For deterrent effect, potential robbers are warned by signs that alert them to the presence of this camera system in each of the shops.