Introduction
Hytera’s VM780 body worn cameras and digital evidence management platform have greatly enhanced the efficiency of the Bureau of Customs in the Philippines, thanks to the live video streaming and dispatch solutions.
Background
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is a Philippine Government Agency under the Department of Finance. Its main function is to assess and collect customs revenues from imported goods and other dues, fees, charges, and penalties. It is tasked with implementing border control to prevent smuggling and other customs fraud. It also supervises and controls the clearance of vessels and aircraft engaged in foreign commerce and it seeks to prevent the entry of contraband goods into the country.
User
Bureau of Customs - ESS
Market Segment
Public Safety
Project Time
February 2021
Product
VM780 Body Worn Camera
DS-6501 Docking Station
SmartEye Live Video Streaming
DEM (Digital Evidence Management) System
The Challenge
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The Philippines BOC is in the process of modernizing and strengthening its enforcement and border protection capabilities, while at the same time further enhancing trade facilitation and improving the collection of the country’s lawful revenues.
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As part of the modernization program, the Bureau wanted to upgrade the communication and incident recording solutions available to customs staff. It wanted to implement a body worn camera (BWC) system to provide daily recordings and real time viewing capabilities.
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The BWC solution was needed to capture video evidence, so the footage could be used to review incidents. BOC also wanted to deploy BWCs at ports throughout the Philippine archipelago to enhance its monitoring activities.
The Solution
Hytera was chosen to provide the body worn camera solution for a number of reasons. For a start, Hytera offers a complete solution from the BWC terminal itself to docking and charging stations and a full end-to-end digital evidence management (DEM) system. Another attraction is that the high-tier Hytera VM780 BWC offers many features which go well beyond the list of requirements set out by BOC.
Most notably, the Hytera VM780 supports live video streaming and dispatch features. The Hytera SmartEye live streaming solution enables users to securely transmit video and audio back to a control room. The live streaming and dispatch platform enables the central office to monitor actual scenarios in the field in real time by pulling multiple videos from the mobile BWC units.
The digital evidence collection management system provides an efficient way to oversee and record the security implementation in the different ports administered by the Bureau of Customs.
The DS-6501 docking station provides a very convenient way for users to automatically download videos, empty the data file storage and charge up the device, so it is ready and waiting for the next working shift to collect and use.
Furthermore, the videos collected by the docking stations are automatically uploaded to the DEM server without any intervention by the users to ensure the digital evidence is not tampered with. Uploaded videos are properly labeled with complete information on the date, time, location, ID of the user, case file and so on, thus making the search and review process a lot easier.
The Benefits
The Bureau of Customs now has access to a complete BWC solution for video recording, management, and dispatch, which has enhanced information gathering, as well as boosting staff productivity and efficiency.
The BOC head office can now monitor actual scenarios in real-time thanks to the live video streaming capability of the VM780, thereby greatly increasing situational awareness and improving the speed and quality of decision making.
The Hytera VM780 and BWC platform has also greatly improved the efficiency and quality of evidence collection, as well as providing BOC staff with the ability to easily review evidence for potential prosecutions and for training purposes.
