ASIS International – Philippines Chapter, as part of its objectives to propagate security education, partnered with SecurityMatters Magazine again to conduct a series of lectures on Video Surveillance Operators Course.
The first of the series was the recent CCTV 202: Video Surveillance Operators Course held last June 6 and 7, 2013 at The Bayleaf Hotel in Intramuros, Manila.
CCTV 202 was handled by lecturers from private and corporate sectors who taught on the legal, technical, and operational understanding on the use of video surveillance and security systems to at least 75 CCTV operators, control room staff, and security supervisors and managers who attended the two batches of the course.
The Chairman of ASIS International – Philippines Chapter, Atty. Paulino L. Yusi, discussed the legal restrictions and proper usage of CCTVs. He explained the known laws and pending bills on the use of CCTV. He also discussed relevant rules on Philippine electronic evidence, limitations on recordings, privacy rules of nanny cams, and other legal restraints in the use of CCTV systems. The purpose of the discussion is for them to know and avoid legal complications on the use of video surveillance systems and on how to properly use video recordings as evidences in court.
To give perspective on operators level and control room operations, Alvin Matabang, Corporate Security Manager of Global Business Power Corporation, tackled operational dimensions, particularly control room and response procedures, including the use of CCTV video in investigations. Matabang shared his experiences and education gained from his stint in several plants and hotels in the Middle East.
To provide perspective on corporate expectations and new paradigm on video surveillance and integrated security systems, Ace Esmeralda, Assistant Regional Vice President of ASIS International and Editor-in-Chief of SecurityMatters Magazine, focused on the proper mindset in video surveillance operations and on profiling with the use of video. Esmeralda also handled the workshop on how to understand and maximize the use of CCTV systems in different environments like resorts, malls, hotels, public areas, and workspaces based on his experiences as a former Regional Director of Security of Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts for Middle East, Asia, and Pacific.
During the course, a representative from Bosch Security Systems in Singapore gave demonstrations on the different types of CCTV cameras. This gave the participants an overview of the capabilities of different types of CCTV cameras for them to understand the technical limitations and advantages of certain systems and choose the best system to use in their respective companies.
The event was sponsored by Annex Digital and Bosch Security Systems Pte Ltd, Singapore which also provided the CCTV setups used in demonstrations and hands-on practice for participants during the course.
The course gave the participants an opportunity to learn about technical aspects of CCTV and control room operations with the use of lessons from case studies and experiences of lecturers and fellow participants.
In general, feedback from the participants was overwhelmingly positive with most of the participants ranking the legal matters and video surveillance aspect as new to them and very important.
The CCTV Operators Course came in a time when the security landscape became too dependent on the benefits of video surveillance. With today’s great demand for CCTV systems comes a greater demand for understanding how to appropriately use them and their legal dimensions.
ASIS International – Philippines Chapter and SecurityMatters will have CCTV operators courses and other seminars and workshops in different areas in the country.
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