CCTVS HELP PEOPLE RETURN HOME SAFELY

[Anchor Lead]

An application that helps people return home safely by using tens of thousands of surveillance cameras went into service in the Chungnam area for the first time. Simply touching a button on an individual’s mobile phone would connect the user to the control center as well as police and fire stations.

[Pkg]

A woman walking alone senses that someone is closely following her. She presses an emergency call button on the “Safe Return Home” app on her mobile phone. An alarm immediately goes off at the local control center. The control center checks the surveillance cameras near the caller and makes a call.

[Soundbite] Control Center Worker : "You think someone’s following you? Alright, I’ll call the police. Stay on the line and wait."

While the caller is still on the phone, they ask for police assistance.

[Soundbite] "An emergency is taking place at 36 degrees latitude..."

This is the latest Chungnam Safe Return Home app service in action. Using about 29,000 surveillance cameras set up in 15 cities and counties in Chungcheongnam-do Province, real-time images are provided from the Chungnam integrated platform built last year.

[Soundbite] Han Gyeong-ah(Smart City Team, Chungcheongnam-do Provicincial Gov’t) : "The control center can take immediate action by using a smartphone’s location information even when a caller cannot describe where she is."

At present, the app service is available only for Android-based smartphones, but the same app for iPhones will be released this month. A similar app was available in Cheonan and a few other areas, but this is the first app that serves a larger provincial region.

[Soundbite] Yu Eun-ji(Safe Return Home App User) : "With all the accidents happening, I feel safer when I wait for my parents to return home or when I return home alone late at night."

In addition to the Safe Return Home service, the Chungnam integrated platform assists with dispatches to accident sites and wanted vehicles search.