Learn to take "no" for an answer or else....

Kathleen Baty, an anti-stalking advocate and pioneer

This week, we'll be profiling someone who knows what it's like to be "hunted" by someone else.  Her name is Kathleen Baty and she has been a pioneer in the world of anti-stalking legislation and prevention.  I had the honor of speaking with her in October.

Good afternoon, Kathy.  I can't begin to tell you how much of an honor it is to speak with you.  I came across your profile on LinkedIn and Twitter and thought, "I have to talk to her."  What can you tell us how you began this journey.

Well, for starters, I was a victim of a stalker.  While in college as a cheerleader, I became acquainted with a man who "hunted" me for 15 years. I literally hid in my home and was in fear of my life.  You learn a new set of skills when you're being pursued by someone like that.

When did things reach the breaking point?

One day, he gained entry into my home and held me at gun point.  He told me to get in the garage where he had meticulously laid out tools for what appeared to be my kidnapping.  I was shocked because it looked like he had been in there for a while.  I did everything I could to "humanize" myself.  During this, my mother happened to call and was alerted something was wrong.  Thankfully, she called the police and told them something was wrong.  Because of this nightmare, I had been working with them for years in trying to catch the perpetrator.  Just as we were going out to his car, the police arrived.  I can remember the police drawing down on him and seeing an officer who was standing a short distance away.  I ran to him as soon as I could.

Would you say this was a catalyst to get you to lobby for stronger anti-stalking legislation?

It was.  What also helped my cause was I an excellent communicator and could put a face to the crime.  I began working with U.S Congressman Ed Royce.  With his help and the tragic events surrounding actress Rebecca Schaefer, the first national anti-stalking law was enacted.  It provided stiffer penalties for stalking and clearly defined what it was for the first time.  There had never been a law which outlined what it was.  That's what made stalking so hard to prosecute.  Law enforcement officer couldn't arrest someone for simply following you around.

Weren't you also instrumental in helping LAPD develop their Threat Management division?

I was one of a few advocates and other law enforcement personnel who were among the first to start it up.  I provided a lot of useful information from a victim's standpoint.  It is out of this that in 1992, the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals was founded.  Its mission is to share and facilitate the experiences and techniques of professionals in the field of threat assessment and/or threat management.  We have partners from every facet of law enforcement and public and private sector security.

What are you involved with now?

I'm still active as an advocate for stronger anti-stalking laws.  I also do a TON of public speaking with regards to how women can better protect themselves and take charge of their own personal security.  I am a firm believer in "girl power".  I hold seminars and workshops for companies and other private organizations who are concerned about the safety of their female employees.  I enjoy speaking with the corporate security guys.  Many are very concerned about stalking and want to learn what they can do to help their female employees.  What I tell them is to be proactive and coordinate as much they can to law enforcement.  It also helps to have folks like myself to come in and speak to their employees as to how they can proactive protect themselves.

Speaking of law enforcement, what do you think would help law enforcement in prosecuting these crimes?

Better coordination.  Far too often, agencies don't talk to one another enough about cases that may impact one another.  For example, when a victim moves from one jurisdiction to another, the information needed to catch and successfully prosecute the perpetrator such as protection orders or even prior law enforcement contacts, is often missed.

Kathy, thanks for speaking with me today.  You are a wonderful role model for victims and advocates alike.  It has been an honor to speak with you.

To learn more about Kathleen Baty and her work, check her out at http://www.safetychick.com.   to learn more about stalking, check out http://www.ncvc.org/src/.

Captain, we are being hailed....

It isn't every day you get to look at the future.  One day in October, I did just that.  It all started with a Tweet during ASIS 2011 regarding behavioral analytics.  I was somewhat curious as to what it was and so I chimed in asking questions.  Normally, when you start asking questions about a product, you don't expect the company to "follow" you on Twitter.  Well, BRS Labs did just that.

Curious as to what behavioral analytics was and why BRS Labs thought it would revolutionize the security industry, I requested an interview.  Boy, am I glad I did because they didn't put me in contact with a PR minion.  Nope.  I spoke with the CEO and founder, Ray Davis, a pioneer in the tech sector.  According to the company's website, "In 2000, when the Dot.coms of the era struggled to deliver a cost-effective operating system for the Internet, Mr. Davis invented the only viable method to deliver computer applications online. With the technology built and patented, Simdesk Technologies delivered Office applications over the Internet at a staggering 20 million users per server, a benchmark that has never been matched."

Good afternoon, Mr. Davis.  It is an honor to speak with you.  I have some very general questions to ask about BRS and behavioral analytics.  Would you please tell us what behavioral analytics is?


Thanks, Scriven.  Let's first start off by explaining how this all came about.  Over the years, the security industry has developed and marketed what we term as "rules-based analytics".  What that entails is programming a CCTV system to alert an operator of a violation of a prescribed set of "rules" in its view.  It operates like a traditional "trip wire".  If the camera detects a pattern inconsistent with the users prescribed set of allowed patterns, it alerts the operator.  The industry went to this model because it realized the unrealistic expectation that an operator could stare at numerous screens for hours on end and reliably analyze various data streams.

There are problems with this, though.  Installation costs in regards to "man hours" are high.  It can take hours or days to setup each camera with each set of "rules".  Additionally, they are also high maintenance costs as well.  If the camera moves, then you have to change the rules all over again.  Perhaps the biggest drawback is in "real world" situations it can cause missed or false alarms.  In other words, you can have a false alarm generated by a normal nonthreatening event.  This is an issue because as the event occurs over and over again the amount of false alarms increase and eventually the operator could begin to ignore any alarm from that camera thinking any alarm could be a false one.

Obviously, the industry needed a better solution.  So at BRS Labs, we began to look for ways to make the system smarter and more adaptable to change.  The only way to make the system smarter was artificial intelligence.  (ATTENTION READERS:  This is where it gets COOL!!)  We created what is called an "artificial neural network" which could understand the "behavior" of an object and create the video into a computer language.  It generates "memories" over a period of time.  Rules-based systems are never as good as the first day.  With behavioral analytics, it is dramatically different because the system is always learning and adapting.

Me (a HUGE Star Trek fan attempting to control my drool):  Did you just say "artificial neural network"?  You just made this Trekkie's day.


As we developed this product, I often teased my children I was working to help create the "Big Brother" computer in the movies.

What are some of the pros and cons of doing this sort of tech in the security industry?


For starters, video analytics takes any where from 5 hours to 40 days to install per camera.  It takes behavioral analytics two weeks to learn.  After that, it never has to learn a new set of "rules" or patterns.  It literally studies the behavior of the objects in view and determines what is abnormal and what is not.  Traditional analytics generates approximately 1,500 false alarms whereas our system generates 1 alert on average per day.  After 30 to 60 days, it gets to less than one per day.  You can move a camera and not have to change to a different set of rules.  It will actively learn and adapt to its new "environment" or view.

What are some of the challenges you faced when developing this system?


First, you have to understand nothing like this had ever been attempted.  The challenges were massive.  Since no one had ever undertaken something like this, we had to start from "scratch".    Once we converted video into a programming language, the biggest challenge was developing a quality control for the product.  It had to be tested and the "kinks" worked out before its launch.  Because we are a software driven organization we took this approach.

Who have been some of its earliest adopters and what is the future of this technology?


One of our earliest customers was a major hotel in Bali who needed a system that could detect abnormal behavior.  This is significant because we were approached after the terrorist attacks there.  The customer was expecting to detect terrorists.  They got more than that.  Our system because it's constantly learning what is normal and what is not can detect any abnormal behavior.  In Bali, it was looking at an entrance and detected a security deficiency.  It saw several people bypassing a security checkpoint without being challenged or detected by the security personnel.

Given its ability to detect such abnormalities, we have been approached by Defense agencies to develop a way for our product to exist within unmanned aerial vehicles.

Me (having more difficulty controlling drool):  Did you just say "unmanned aerial vehicles"?


The system can look at video of regardless where its taken and "learn" if anything in it view has changed and alert operators on the ground.  The applications are boundless.

Me:  Mr. Davis, thanks so much for taking the time to talk with me.  This is perhaps the coolest thing I've heard affecting our industry possibly in the last 10 years.


Here's a video of the system in action:


http://www.brslabs.com/includes/examples/PublicAccessPTZPosition4.html

I'm really, really, really sorry....But I have a good reason....

Just so you don't think I'm a complete loser, I have decided to do like every other celebrity and publish my mea culpa.....