365 days of saved video/ audio help

[garycrist]

How about single hot swappable drive in a HDD enclosure? Just buy multiple enclosures and drives.
Label then store off-site!

 

[Pyrofighting]

Unless the "overlords" give such a mandate about frames per second, you could always drop the FPS down to 4 or 5 FPS so save on storage.

The law mandates 15fps 24/7, one year.

 

[Pyrofighting]

looks like they've covered that issue:

"Senate Bill 1384 outlines specific standards and parameters that digital video and audio surveillance systems must be able to comply with. For example, the law specifies that the surveillance systems must maintain a frame rate of no less than 15 frames per second, display the date and time, be equipped with a failure notification system, and that all recordings must be stored in a secure manner for authorized users only. "

Ouch, this will not be a quick setup for many FFLs ..


26806. (a) Commencing January 1, 2024, a licensee shall ensure that its business premises are monitored by a digital video surveillance system that meets all of the following requirements:
(1) The system shall clearly record images and, for systems located inside the premises, audio, of the area under surveillance.
(2) Each camera shall be permanently mounted in a fixed location. Cameras shall be placed in locations that allow the camera to clearly record activity occurring in all areas described in paragraph (3) and reasonably produce recordings that allow for the clear identification of any person.
(3) The areas recorded shall include, without limitation, all of the following:
(A) Interior views of all entries or exits to the premises.
(B) All areas where firearms are displayed.
(C) All points of sale, sufficient to identify the parties involved in the transaction.
(4) The system shall continuously record 24 hours per day at a frame rate no less than 15 frames per second.
(5) The media or device on which recordings are stored shall be secured in a manner to protect the recording from tampering, unauthorized access or use, or theft.
(6) Recordings shall be maintained for a minimum of one year.
(7) Recorded images shall clearly and accurately display the date and time.
(8) The system shall be equipped with a failure notification system that provides notification to the licensee of any interruption or failure of the system or storage device.
(b) A licensee shall not use, share, allow access, or otherwise release recordings, to any person except as follows:
(1) A licensee shall allow access to the system to an agent of the department or a licensing authority conducting an inspection of the licensee’s premises, for the purpose of inspecting the system for compliance with this section, and only if a warrant or court order would not generally be required for that access.
(2) A licensee shall allow access to the system or release recordings to any person pursuant to search warrant or other court order.
(3) A licensee may allow access to the system or release recordings to any person in response to an insurance claim or as part of the civil discovery process, including, but not limited to, in response to subpoenas, request for production or inspection, or other court order.
(c) The licensee shall post a sign in a conspicuous place at each entrance to the premises that states in block letters not less than one inch in height:

“THESE PREMISES ARE UNDER VIDEO AND AUDIO SURVEILLANCE. YOUR IMAGE AND CONVERSATIONS MAY BE RECORDED.”

(d) A licensee shall, on an annual basis, provide certification to the department, in a manner prescribed by the department, that its video surveillance system is in proper working order.
(e) This section does not preclude any local authority or local governing body from adopting or enforcing local laws or policies regarding video surveillance that do not contradict or conflict with the requirements of this section.

I am lucky that I have been using BI for six years with 35 cameras because we are an indoor shooting range. Most FFLs have antiquated cameras or nothing.

 

[Pyrofighting]

My next question. Through research it appears H.265 indoors, persons within 20ft, that 2mp at 1024 bitrate would be my minimum required specs to identify someone.

If thats the case, 4.5 TB per camera per year is all I need. (Based on the kb/s from my bolide camera with these settings)

I may bump to 3mp and 2048 bit rate just to be safe. I don’t like riding the fence with these types of laws. Its less stress to provide a little more than minimum.

 

[mat200]

My next question. Through research it appears H.265 indoors, persons within 20ft, that 2mp at 1024 bitrate would be my minimum required specs to identify someone.

If thats the case, 4.5 TB per camera per year is all I need. (Based on the kb/s from my bolide camera with these settings)

I may bump to 3mp and 2048 bit rate just to be safe. I don’t like riding the fence with these types of laws. Its less stress to provide a little more than minimum.

So, depends on what is specified as Identification quality of the video ..

if that is the I in DORI you need to check the DORI specs for the camera .. iirc about 80 ppf is the specs for what Dahua publishes ..

 

[wittaj]

I guess it is easier for California to police a legit business violating this rule than to go after the actual criminals.

 

[looney2ns]

Wow!
And some of that is left to some government lackeys opinion, instead of true guidelines.

 

[Peter Schumacher]

So, depends on what is specified as Identification quality of the video ..

if that is the I in DORI you need to check the DORI specs for the camera .. iirc about 80 ppf is the specs for what Dahua publishes ..

I have read 70-100 ppf is the standard. 3mp at 2024 bit rate should be plenty.

 

[Peter Schumacher]

Wow!
And some of that is left to some government lackeys opinion, instead of true guidelines.

I try not to get caught up in the whys and hows of the laws when dealing with all this. Otherwise I just get angry. I have to stick with the realty of situation.

 

[samplenhold]

I would be cautious of just using published ppf and low bit rates. The only way to comply with the law, as printed below, is to TEST each cam for facial clarity. Also, remember that increased MP count does not mean better video.

(2) Each camera shall be permanently mounted in a fixed location. Cameras shall be placed in locations that allow the camera to clearly record activity occurring in all areas described in paragraph (3) and reasonably produce recordings that allow for the clear identification of any person.

 

[mat200]

I have read 70-100 ppf is the standard. 3mp at 2024 bit rate should be plenty.

let's see .. 250 PPM = 250 ppm / 3.28084 feet per meter = 76.22 ppf ..

So you can use 80 ppf perhaps .. if the international spec is ok, or just check the camera's oem DORI specs
( update note, many of us here like to use 100 ppf for our purposes .. gives us an extra margin for ID purposes )


DORI is an acronym that stands for Detection, Observation, Recognition, and Identification. It's a standard that defines different levels of detail for visible light surveillance cameras. DORI uses PPM (Pixels Per Meter) to define these levels:

• Detection: 25 PPM
• Observation: 62 PPM
• Recognition: 125 PPM
• Identification: 250 PPM

DORI is based on the IEC EN62676-4: 2015 International Standard.

 

[Peter Schumacher]

I would be cautious of just using published ppf and low bit rates. The only way to comply with the law, as printed below, is to TEST each cam for facial clarity. Also, remember that increased MP count does not mean better video.

(2) Each camera shall be permanently mounted in a fixed location. Cameras shall be placed in locations that allow the camera to clearly record activity occurring in all areas described in paragraph (3) and reasonably produce recordings that allow for the clear identification of any person.

Yep. I was testing that today. The inside of the business is well lit and the current camera locations at 2mp and 1024 bit rate appear to be adequate for identification. But I want some documentation, best practices, and industry standards to backup what I’m doing. I will probably go with something slightly better to be safe.

I even bumped the frame rate to 16fps. At 15fps it’s usually at 14.99. Better to be above.

 

[smiticans]

Its a new California Law for my business.

Honestly, based on everything I've read in this thread, I don't think BI is your best choice.

BI needs database maintenance. While you're doing the maintenance (ether automatically or manually) recording is paused. This could be a violation of that law.

As discussed in other threads BI's database is fragile. I don't know if I would want to risk it in your situation.

I would seriously consider an enterprise grade VMS solution like Digital Watchdog IPVMS or something similar.

Digital Watchdog has the following features that in my opinion would be important for you.

DW does not pause recordings for database maintenance.
A second DW server can ack as a failover.
DW supports cloud accounts with 2FA. Cloud accounts can be assigned specific permissions. (Assuming they need remote access)
DW has a feature called "Audit Log". Audit log will document any account that logs in, which camera that was viewed, any zoom windows that were created, and if any video was exported.
DW can set storage as "Main" and "backup". Both storage options can be recorded to simultaneously. IE the main storage is you WD purple drives inside of the server and the backup storage is a NAS or something similar in a secured location. Individual cameras can be selected to record to the backup location.
You can specificy minimum retention time on an individual camera basis.

You can download DW from their website and test it. If you call them they will probably provide you with a free trial key.

The downside to DW is that it is fairly expensive.

 

[CCTVCam]

looks like they've covered that issue:

"Senate Bill 1384 outlines specific standards and parameters that digital video and audio surveillance systems must be able to comply with. For example, the law specifies that the surveillance systems must maintain a frame rate of no less than 15 frames per second, display the date and time, be equipped with a failure notification system, and that all recordings must be stored in a secure manner for authorized users only. "

Ouch, this will not be a quick setup for many FFLs ..

(b) A licensee shall not use, share, allow access, or otherwise release recordings, to any person except as follows:
(1) A licensee shall allow access to the system to an agent of the department or a licensing authority conducting an inspection of the licensee’s premises, for the purpose of inspecting the system for compliance with this section, and only if a warrant or court order would not generally be required for that access.
(2) A licensee shall allow access to the system or release recordings to any person pursuant to search warrant or other court order.
(3) A licensee may allow access to the system or release recordings to any person in response to an insurance claim or as part of the civil discovery process, including, but not limited to, in response to subpoenas, request for production or inspection, or other court order.
(c) The licensee shall post a sign in a conspicuous place at each entrance to the premises that states in block letters not less than one inch in height:

“THESE PREMISES ARE UNDER VIDEO AND AUDIO SURVEILLANCE. YOUR IMAGE AND CONVERSATIONS MAY BE RECORDED.”

Weclome to the world of GDPR and free range criminals.

Now it looks as if you can no longer show your employees pictures of known perps or suspicious characaters you believe are stealing or casing the joint, send the footage to other branches or dealers or online, share footage to Law Enforcement (unless under Warrant, Court Order) and only share as a part of an insurance claim or civil suit, Plus you have to display a large notice saying Criminals cover your faces!!!

So next time there's a robbery and a LE turns up and wants to see the footage to put out an APB and catch the guys, it will be sorry I can't show you, get a Court Order and come back if you want to see it.

At least that's my 5am interpretation of this at a quick glance. Always consult an attorney for a real interpretation / legal view. Like I said it looks almost like GDPR except over here, where LE can have it but only once they're applied in writing in the correct format. I don't deal with GDPR but I think we can at least show them after a crime, just not allow them to have a copy or take photos or videos from the screen. I'm not sure reading the above you can even show them.

Also I think the minimum period we have to retain video for is 14 days not 365 but wouldn't be 100% sure nor know if firearms dealers have special CCTV rules. They don't to my knowledge but that could be wrong. Most non firearm businesses over here tend to retain footage for about a month.

 

[Peter Schumacher]

Weclome to the world of GDPR and free range criminals.

Now it looks as if you can no longer show your employees pictures of known perps or suspicious characaters you believe are stealing or casing the joint, send the footage to other branches or dealers or online, share footage to Law Enforcement (unless under Warrant, Court Order) and only share as a part of an insurance claim or civil suit, Plus you have to display a large notice saying Criminals cover your faces!!!

So next time there's a robbery and a LE turns up and wants to see the footage to put out an APB and catch the guys, it will be sorry I can't show you, get a Court Order and come back if you want to see it.

At least that's my 5am interpretation of this at a quick glance. Always consult an attorney for a real interpretation / legal view. Like I said it looks almost like GDDP except over here, where LE can have it but only once they're applied in writing in the correct format. I don't deal with GDPR but I think we can at least show them after a crime, just not allow them to have a copy or take photos or videos from the screen. I'm not sure reading the above you can even show them.

Also I think the minimum period we have to retain video for is 14 days not 365 but wouldn't be 100% sure nor know if firearms dealers have special CCTV rules. They don't to my knowledge but that could be wrong. Most non firearm businesses over here tend to retain footage for about a month.

The new law required recording 24/7 365 day.

The law allows Ca DOJ and ATF the ability to access footage without a warrant, kinda. We can say no. Then our ffl is immediately revoked.

 

[Peter Schumacher]

Honestly, based on everything I've read in this thread, I don't think BI is your best choice.

BI needs database maintenance. While you're doing the maintenance (ether automatically or manually) recording is paused. This could be a violation of that law.

As discussed in other threads BI's database is fragile. I don't know if I would want to risk it in your situation.

I would seriously consider an enterprise grade VMS solution like Digital Watchdog IPVMS or something similar.

Digital Watchdog has the following features that in my opinion would be important for you.

DW does not pause recordings for database maintenance.
A second DW server can ack as a failover.
DW supports cloud accounts with 2FA. Cloud accounts can be assigned specific permissions. (Assuming they need remote access)
DW has a feature called "Audit Log". Audit log will document any account that logs in, which camera that was viewed, any zoom windows that were created, and if any video was exported.
DW can set storage as "Main" and "backup". Both storage options can be recorded to simultaneously. IE the main storage is you WD purple drives inside of the server and the backup storage is a NAS or something similar in a secured location. Individual cameras can be selected to record to the backup location.
You can specificy minimum retention time on an individual camera basis.

You can download DW from their website and test it. If you call them they will probably provide you with a free trial key.

The downside to DW is that it is fairly expensive.

How much is digital watchdog roughly?

 

[Mike A.]

This will be hard too:

(5) The media or device on which recordings are stored shall be secured in a manner to protect the recording from tampering, unauthorized access or use, or theft.

So you need to secure your system and RAID. Physically and electronically.

 

[smiticans]

How much is digital watchdog roughly?

it’s licensed per camera. It’s about $85 to $90 per license depending on where you buy it from and how many licenses you buy.

Another option I thought of is you could keep your current system in place, and add the DW system separately. So you add 5 new cameras to the locations that are required by law and tie them into the DW system. The DW system would use separate Poe switches and UPS system so you pretty much have full redundancy.

 

[Flintstone61]

If database maint is a dealbreaker....
You could run those 5-6 cams to an NVR or even 2 NVR's and simultaneously to BI.....and if at 2AM... the Bandito's come knocking.... the NVR's will have your back...
Some NVR's can take up to 2-10 TB drives or more in some cases even more.....So possibly 40 TB of space...across 2 NVR's.
and that roughly might be enough space get you your 1 year of compliant video...
Meanwhile BI will have those cams as well, but for a shorter duration...like 3-4 weeks.

 

[Flintstone61]

I wonder if he can post video outside ( like Youtube or to another business) from a 2nd system that isn't part of the complaint mandate? are all 35 cameras subject to the changes to the sharing of video?