CCTV security systems could soon spot an assault on a bus before it happens, according to a major research project.

按照一项主要研究计划，闭路电视安全系统可以在公车上预先辨认一场攻击的发生。

The system would monitor suspicious behaviour on buses

The system, part of which has already been tested in laboratory conditions, looks for suspicious（怀疑的） behaviour associated with crime.

It would be able to send live CCTV pictures to operation rooms, from where controllers would be able to intervene（调停，干涉）.

The Queens University Belfast team say the software could make a significant impact on crime on transport.

Although much of the work is currently at the theoretical stage, the team from the university's newly-founded Centre for Secure Information Technologies predict that within five years their software will be able to profile people as they board a bus.

The system would then compare who it thinks these people are, and what they are doing, with more general data on the bus's location, time of day and historic crime rates.

Once it has sifted¹（纷落，详察） this data, it could be able to conclude whether someone is about to commit an assault and send live pictures to controllers.

Dr Paul Miller², head of the research project, said there were millions of CCTV cameras in the UK doing very little to fight crime.

"Their impact on anti-social behaviour and criminal behaviour is negligible（可以忽略的，微不足道的） - assaults on buses are a major problem and very little CCTV material is analysed in real-time," he said.

Dr Miller said the 15-strong team were still developing initial databases to identify an individual's gender³ and body shape.

Recognising behaviour

However, the team say the system goes further by then looking for recognised signs of an imminent⁴（逼近的，即将发生的） criminal offence.

These signs include someone moving seats shortly before an assault, groups closing in on a passenger sitting alone and people loitering（闲荡，虚度） on a double-decker's stairwell, or close to the driver's cab.

The system would only alert a controller if the sum of all of these "atomic events" added up to the profile of a possible crime.

"The system won't be able to say, 'this is an incident' - but it will be able to push that video stream to the top of the queue for security analysts⁶ [in a control room] to make a decision," said Dr Miller.

"Ultimately, most of the events will be benign⁷（良性的）, with nothing going on. That's why you still need the human element."

Dr Miller said that laboratory tests on gender recognition, based on a database of 4,000 faces, had proved successful and the project would move into testing systems on buses over the next year.

He conceded that buses were a "pretty challenging environment" for the software - but the benefits could be enormous.

"Research shows crimes happen when there is an opportunity and no chance of payback," he said.

"If a security analyst⁵ can directly communicate with the assailant（攻击者）, to tell them they are being watched, it will have a marked effect on the offender⁸. Just one example of this actually happening can have a deterrent⁹ effect（吓阻作用） on the crime rate in an area."

The CCTV project is among research being conducted at the Centre for Secure Information Technology, which has launched this week. CSIT says it aims to be a "leading edge" centre in taking theoretical university work on combating cyber crime and improving security and turning it into practical tools to help police and other security services.