Portland High School in Mitchells Plain in the Western Cape is the first user of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s (CSIR’s) BlockWatch artificial intelligence-driven mobile app that predicts and prevents crime and violence.
The app was unveiled at the school on 27 November 2023, with a training workshop to help Portland Block H Neighbourhood Watch members with installing the app, as well as registration and authentication processes.
BlockWatch leverages predictive analytics to enhances the user community’s awareness and decision-making by accurately predicting future locations of crime and violent incidents on a weekly basis.
The technology allows users to record incidents, including the location and timestamp for all observations made during patrols.
Other project collaborators include the Western Cape Government Departments of Health and Wellness, and Police Oversight and Community Safety.
The CSIR in its 2023/24 annual report said the pilot project will help assess the app’s suitability for determining the spatial patterns of crime and violence in the area and for decision-making in addressing sporadic flare-ups of incidents in highly volatile communities.
CSIR CEO Dr Thulani Dlamini said BlockWatch uses artificial intelligence to predict crime and allow law enforcement officers to be proactive rather than reactive. “The best solution we can have as a country is to prevent crime rather than intervening after a crime has been committed.”
He said BlockWatch will help law enforcement as well as neighbourhood watches to get ahead of potential crime hotspots in the country. After rolling out in Mitchells Plain, the CSIR hopes to scale up to other parts of the country.
BlockWatch is one of numerous CSIR initiatives to provide safety and security solutions under the Defence and Security cluster, which delivers integrated security solutions for private, public and civil sectors, and technology innovation to foster a robust local defence and security industry.
Civil security research and development offers command and control capabilities for crowd management; sensor systems for homes, businesses and critical infrastructure that enable authorities to identify and rapidly react to criminal activities; integrated security solutions for infrastructure security; and security solutions for the cash-in-transit industry, amongst others.
A notably successful CSIR developed project is its Meerkat wide-area surveillance system, developed to detect and intercept rhino poachers in the Kruger National Park – before they attack. The system uses a land surveillance radar plus radar-designated, long-range cameras with laser illumination for night operations. The radar detects and localises a moving target, and the cameras confirm detections as well as distinguishing between humans and animals. All components are locally sourced and supported.
The sensor system is self-sufficient and can be used continuously for months at a time at unprepared and unattended sites. This allows maximum continuous coverage over poaching ingress routes. The system is quickly moved by pick-up truck and/or helicopter. The system can be used in any large area requiring perimeter protection – including border safeguarding, industrial plant security and farm security. Its success was proven in the Kruger National Park, where it has been in operational use since 2017.
The CSIR developed the cameras for the Meerkat, including the Cyclone and Otus. Tyto is a lighter, smaller and cheaper version of Otus. Tyto is able to operate during the day or at night with enhanced twilight performance. It has a high sensitivity monochrome main sensor and thermal detection sensor. Range is around 5 km, compared to approximately 1 0km for Otus. RINO is a smaller version of Otus with similar range capability – it is far lighter and easier to transport. In addition to camera upgrades, Meerkat may in future be fitted with a new Ground-based Surveillance and Classification Radar (GSCR) developed by the CSIR with support from the Department of Science and Innovation.
Another example of a CSIR security solution is a stock theft application. The Department of Correctional Services discovered livestock losses of up to R250 000 per month from a farming project in the Eastern Cape so CSIR systems engineers rapidly responded with a risk assessment and threat analysis and developed a security operational concept. To speed up development, the CSIR worked with a local manufacturer of a perimeter intrusion monitoring system as part of the overall solution. The system detects movement through radar and video capabilities, using day and night cameras. After the first attempted intrusion was detected and thwarted, the theft ended.
