Bid to fight rural crime with cameras
Hidden cameras to detect crimes in rural areas are being developed in an EU-funded project, .
The cameras being tested by EU police forces could provide the answer to the scourge of rural crime.
The technological breakthrough comes as the Irish Farmers Association warns members to be alert and observant for signs of a seasonal crime wave.
IFA National Treasurer Jer Bergin advised members to mark and secure property to reduce the chance of a theft occurring.
He encouraged all farmers to close gates at night and during periods of absence.
Meanwhile, the aim in the EU-funded Forensor project is to make “smart” miniaturised cameras affordable enough to be hidden in the countryside, helping police forces combat the crime wave of burglaries affecting rural dwellers.
The cameras are likely to be primarily used to combat problems such as drug smuggling or people trafficking.
Such cameras have long been used for nature documentaries, to film elusive animals in the dead of night.
When a nocturnal creature passes by the camera’s motion-sensitive sensors, the camera is triggered into action, and captures the wildlife images we see on TV nature programmes.
The new crime-fighting camera now being developed “wakes up” if its sensor spots something suspicious, and it is programmed to send screenshots and video to local police stations.
They need only one-tenth of the power of a normal surveillance camera, and are easily concealable.
Portuguese police are interested in using them for remote coastal areas where small motor boats loaded with drugs approach isolated beaches.
A second scenario to be tested is in a national park in Valencia, Spain.
Here, the camera can identify vehicles driven by someone under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
And police in Chiusi in Italy are hoping to deploy the cameras to alert them if someone is climbing a fence, entering houses through a window, or driving suspiciously in a neighbourhood.
A crucial part of the Forensor project is to ensure that the evidence gathered by the cameras is allowed in court.
This requirement means ensuring that nobody sees the footage who should not, and that protocols are followed to ensure the footage is correctly documented to support an investigation.
The Greek navy has expressed an interest in the surveillance equipment for monitoring the activities of people smugglers in remote, uninhabited islands.
The cameras, which could be a godsend for rural dwellers in fear of criminals, are one of the results of €35 million of EU research funding for new technologies to prevent crime and terrorism.
