A marvelous township in the province of Lecce overlooking the coast of Salentine peninsula, Castro boasts a millennial history of being inhabited by Messapians, Greeks (where Kàstron name came from), Romans (who Latinized it in Castrum Minervae) and Byzantines. Today, the ancient heritage of this pearl – watershed between Adriatic and Ionian seas – merges with a dynamic and modern spirit. One of its finest features is the brand new Dahua safe city Solution chosen by the local government: a centralized IP video-surveillance system featuring cutting-edge AI functions.
Background
As a tourist center, Castro has a population between 15,000 and 20,000 during summer time. Its old town and the marina are the main attractions of the city and the major areas where intervention is needed. The occurrence of domestic burglaries in the last few years and increasing security demand during summer season have prompted the city government to revamp its existing video surveillance system with enhanced performance and to extend its monitoring coverage in the municipality.
Solution
To address the growing complexity of security challenges faced by the city that involve large flows of people and vehicles, the Dahua Italy team proposed the Dahua safe city Solution. It features people counting in public places and parking management functions, which served as important factors that led the local government to choose Dahua. Progeneral s.r.l completed the project installation alongside Dahua local distribution partner Securitek SRL within a month after supplying the products.
The city’s previous outdated low-resolution cameras were replaced with a batch of AI-powered 4 MP IR Bullet Camera IPC-HFW7442H-Z from the latest Dahua WizMind series. It monitors city entrances and key public places such as streets, industrial areas, schools, clubs, squares, harbors, monuments, castles and archeological excavation sites.
Powered by deep-learning algorithm, this AI camera supports a variety of smart functions including people counting, perimeter protection, face detection, video metadata, etc. It also provides crystal-clear images even in extremely low light conditions, and offers optimized video encoding and high flexibility.
For example, it can capture and track illegal vehicles, non-vehicles or people and extract relevant structured video data. Instead of reviewing massive video evidence, the police can simply use the attribute search function to quickly locate the target. When installed in tourist attractions and public places with large flow of visitors, the built-in people counting technology of the camera can accurately calculate the real-time statistics of people entering and leaving a certain area, enabling timely dispersion measures to avoid overcrowding. Likewise, the system can also provide traffic flow and related information for efficient traffic management.
Moreover, another powerful advantage of the system is its perimeter protection function, which not only detects illegal parking in a pedestrian area but also detects access to prohibited areas such as lawns, rivers, fences, etc. Based on accurate classification and detection of human and vehicles, it can filter false alarms caused by object interference, determine if the crossing target is a person or a vehicle, and send real-time alarm notification when intrusion has been detected.
In addition, the devices are managed by Dahua 64-channel WizMind NVR5864-I through Dahua DSS Express VMS platform that outputs analysis reports for efficient city management and operation. At the same time, LM49-S400 49” 4K LED monitor inside the control room displays all videos and images for efficient central management.
Results
The biggest beneficiaries of the Dahua safe city Solution implementation are undoubtedly the inhabitants of Castro. With the help of advanced Dahua AI applications, it provides comprehensive safety guarantee for the daily work and life of Castro residents, which strengthens their confidence in fighting crimes and helps attract more tourists to visit their beautiful town.
“Thanks to this new system, our citizens feel much more reassured. Our community received this new implementation very positively: giving up a little in terms of privacy but gaining a lot in terms of security is a no-brainer,” said Mr. Luigi Fersini, Mayor of Castro.
Through extensive surveillance of the entire municipal territory and an upgraded control room, the solution also brings value to the local police and government. It achieves flow control of people and vehicles through metadata. It allows the local police to recognize targets, extract information, and manage quick and accurate target search, which significantly improves operation efficiency and case closure rate. At the same time, the analysis reports generated by the Dahua DSS software also provide reference and guidance for better municipal planning and construction.
“We expect to enhance our safety but also to monitor more efficiently those who dump their trash where it is forbidden, for example, in order to have a cleaner and tidier city. I am confident that we will become a role model. I already asked for a state contribution to extend the coverage of our surveillance system,” Fersini added.
