World Dumbest Criminal Or World Dumbest Editor?

JH
John Honovich
Apr 22, 2015
IPVM

Security Today declared "World’s Dumbest Criminal of 2015 is Caught on Camera At ISC West"

There was only one problem. The 'crime' was staged.

It even looked staged:

The 'editor' noted:

"I had to watch the video twice to make sure I saw correctly. The thief had the audacity to wear his ISC West badge with his name and company he was representing. I don't think he'll be back anytime soon."

Unfortunately, he did not see correctly. It is always a good idea to verify before publicly accusing people of being criminals.

Pelco explained:

"We staged multiple incidents at ISC West so we could demonstrate how easy it is to find and export video from an incident using our new VideoXpert VMS. Because its UI is very intuitive, we allowed customers in the booth to see and drive real scenarios finding and exporting video from an incident. The clip we posted was the end result of one of those incidents (with some music and text to make it interesting)."

Well played, Pelco, well played.

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UI
Undisclosed Integrator #1
Apr 22, 2015

Following your quote the 'editor' also wrote: "On a more serious note, the conference was a huge success." Me thinks the section before was meant as satire, although sarcasm is always harder to read than hear. :)

U
Undisclosed #2
Apr 23, 2015
IPVMU Certified

Thoughts:

  1. I didn't see a crime, no one else had possession of the case.
  2. Lip-biting when entering the Pelco booth is probably a natural and very common reaction.
  3. Do megapixel cameras really have better 'depth of field' than standard definition cameras?
  4. Can't find a frame where you can read his badge, yet the author insists they went back and found it...
  5. Ok, so you can catch the world's dumbest criminal, is that something to brag about?
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UI
Undisclosed Integrator #3
Apr 23, 2015

Hey .... it got them some free press here too!

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JH
John Honovich
Apr 23, 2015
IPVM

World's Smartest Manufacturer....

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TC
Tango Charlie
Apr 23, 2015

#4 - Wide dynamic range allows for facial recognition from a distance.

Really?

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U
Undisclosed #2
Apr 23, 2015
IPVMU Certified

But seriously Pelco, 5 different megapixel cameras, high framerates, good lighting, a scripted criminal and yet:

Where is the frame with the perp's show badge?

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Avatar
Jon Dillabaugh
Apr 24, 2015
Pro Focus LLC

I think this could actually be something that backfires for them. At a quick glance, it may seem impressive to a novice, but to most intelligent (read: IPVM members) security professionals, we know what they are really missing. Sure, you can see the event unfold in a very controlled environment. They have the cameras pointed right where they want them. The lighting is controlled as well. Yet, they have added very questionable subtitles, cheesy music, and no "money shot"?

If I were Pelco, I would be embarrassed and would pull that ASAP.

JH
John Honovich
Apr 24, 2015
IPVM

The lack of a 'money shot' or CSI zoom where they get the face and badge does take away from the video.

I am so tired of this trade show booth theft videos. Every year some pub or manufacturer gets super excited about this.

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U
Undisclosed #4
Apr 27, 2015

The only thing that would have made this clip better was having the the "purp" wear the Pink Panther costume. Come on now, does Pelco really think that they are unique with this technology showing something that others have been deploying successfully for while now?

Nice try, give them the booby prize.

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MI
Matt Ion
May 26, 2015

Hmmm #6 "Realtime record rates" looks more like 15fps to me...

As far as being able to read the badge, it may actually be possible to read it in the original clip... but crushed down to 720p on YouTube does a poor job of showing that off. Considering YouTube now supports 4k playback, if you really want to show off your video quality, reducing it all to 720p isn't doing yourself any favors.

U
Undisclosed #2
May 26, 2015
IPVMU Certified

...it may actually be possible to read it in the original clip

Though the 'editor' did say they 'saw' it in the same clip we were looking at.

Anyway, I'm not sure the original would be much help since it would seem that blurring is a major part of the problem here. Probably should have turned off WDR...

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