Brussels Airport Diamond Heist

On 18 February 2013, eight masked gunmen in two cars with police markings stole approximately US$50 million worth of diamonds from a Swiss-bound Fokker 100 operated by Helvetic Airways on the apron at Brussels Airport, Belgium. The heist was accomplished without a shot being fired. The robbers hid in a construction site outside the airport prior to the robbery. Entering the airport through a hole they created in the airport security fence, the robbers drove on the property with two vehicles, a Mercedes van and a car, both of which were black with flashing blue police lights. The robbers stopped the plane and then brandished their guns, stopping the pilots and transport security. The whole robbery took about 20 minutes. The robbery did not appear to disturb any of the passengers. In fact, the passengers did not know that anything had happened until they were told to disembark because the flight had been cancelled. The van believed to be used in the robbery was later found abandoned and burned. The robbery surely knew it would be too risky to make their move in Antwerp, which is the world capital of diamond-cutting, 43 kilometers (27 miles) from the airport. The city's diamond industry has some 2,000 surveillance cameras, police monitoring and countless identity controls to protect its $200 million in daily trade of rough and polished gems. There is no doubt that they know a lot of information regarding the diamond heist will be on flight on that day.

conclusion 
Improve Security

Network IP – an essential tool for system flexibility
The use of IP (Internet Protocol) connectivity provides flexibility in optimizing security camera placement, with wireless transmission methods such as 3G mobile phone signals meaning that physical connections such as fiber optic cabling are not required, with their associated cost and installation disruption. The relative ease of IP-enabled cameras' installation can serve a dual purpose, helping keep an eye on staff working in remote areas of the airfield for both security and health and safety purposes. Managers can also dial-in to a camera network remotely, to view images without needing to visit the control room.

Use of video analytics software in airport security solution

Video analytics provides an advanced surveillance-related filter that helps to sort through multiple scenarios that security teams are routinely faced with. This type of analysis is also benefiting from ongoing investment by systems suppliers who are addressing the need for cost effective, meaningful, reliable and user-friendly software. 

In practical terms, video analytics involves software processing algorithms that analyses security camera data from a scene, detect situations that meet a certain set of conditions, filter them for possible false alarms and then, if verified, issue an alert that security staff can react to appropriately. Use of such advanced video analytics software is a step up from traditional video motion detection and offers significant future potential in combating crime threats.

At an airport perimeter, the technology could, for example, use what's called a ‘virtual tripwire' - essentially an area of the scene that triggers an alarm when an object enters that zone. Closer to the center of passenger operations, video analytics technology can also flag up the presence of left baggage in a terminal or other sensitive area.

Security team training

A holistic security systems environment will involve different types of protective equipment communicating collectively to contribute more than the sum of their parts. For instance, CCTV cameras on automatic area ‘tours' will immediately react to the opening of a vehicle barrier by instantly refocusing on this area and triggering the digital recording of the event for subsequent identity validation or prosecution purposes.