EP4042089B1

EP4042089B1 - Electronic holster for detecting and monitoring shootings

Info

Publication number: EP4042089B1
Application number: EP20807883.2A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Luigi Romano
Original assignee: International Security Service Vigilanza SpA
Current assignee: International Security Service Vigilanza SpA
Priority date: 2019-11-11
Filing date: 2020-11-02
Publication date: 2024-03-06
Anticipated expiration: 2040-11-02
Also published as: IT201900020790A1; EP4042089A1; WO2021094866A1; EP4042089C0

Description

Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of holsters for pistols. More precisely, the invention in question concerns an electronic system integrated into the holster with interactive monitoring and remote-control capability from the operations centre.

Prior art

A large number of remote monitoring systems aimed at personnel working in the field of public private security are known in the current state of the art. The increasing availability of low-cost technology, together with the miniaturisation of sensors and electronic devices capable of providing precise geolocation indications, have made it possible to provide personnel responsible for armed security, patrolling and monitoring several supplementary support systems ranging from simple remote location monitoring to the objective detection of presences.
The introduction of miniaturised cameras which agents, both private and non-private, must wear drew a lot of interest. These cameras allow to carefully reconstruct all the procedures, followings, arrest phases. This provides a guarantee, albeit minimal, that human rights are always respected, and that agents behave in a lawful manner, not committing crimes or violations in turn. Such systems also operate to safeguard the agent, private or non-private, providing clear evidence of the behaviours which led them to take action. However, such system requires a large amount of power and resources to be properly exploited, so much so that only a few agents in the world have it.
Another drawback of this solution lies in the fact that a stream of low-quality images and audio does not allow to reconstruct hectic moments such as those of a shooting, where the individual events must be reconstructed in a precise chronological order to lead to the exact truth of the facts. Furthermore, in order to prevent unpleasant situations, a large number of personnel should constantly monitor the live streaming of these videos and send assistance and aid if necessary.
The scenario described above presents a series of critical factors which the present patent application aims to mitigate and eliminate, in particular, in light of the impossibility of implementing a granular control of the shootings and to provide immediate assistance.
The equipment of private and public guards almost always consists of light weaponry - small pistols or telescopic batons - which the agents have the task of carefully guarding, but which represents a considerable risk if used improperly or by an unauthorised and ill-intentioned person.
For this reason, the holster which holds the weapon must be secure, in addition to providing the guarantee that it will always be in the agent's custody.
Although in the international sphere patents can be found, such as US 2017/061781 A1 , which discloses a system including an electronic holster for detecting and monitoring shootings and a monitoring centre, the US patent US2019195585 , which aims to equip security personnel with smart pistols provided with localisation and authentication devices connected to a central system, or the patent of the same Applicant filed on 14/12/2017, which proposes a monitoring and assistance kit for security personnel and porters for the control and localisation of the personnel, with security features in favour of the personnel by means of a distributed system, comprising portable devices and a dedicated central computer, it is clear that they only partially respond to the problems identified and that they do not effectively solve the critical issues highlighted so far.

Description of the invention

According to the present invention as defined by claim 1, a system including an electronic holster for detecting and monitoring shootings and a monitoring centre is provided which effectively addresses and solves the aforementioned problems by providing the field operators (security guards, surveillance personnel, porters, guards, policemen, etc.) with a holster provided with appropriate interfacing and management software capable of communicating via a network with a primary node at the headquarters of the operations centre.
The present invention will be applicable in every field in which persons are licensed to use firearms, from private surveillance, to police forces. The primary objective of the invention is to monitor the events of a shooting to accurately reconstruct what occurred, detect dangerous situations and send immediate assistance in order to minimise the risks.
The nerve of the system consists of a central computer capable of connecting via a network with the operators in the territory, receiving in real time data relating to the firearm in the agent's possession such as, but not limited to, GPS position, status of the pistol, extracted, inserted or in maintenance, without the safety catch, cocked, in the act of firing. The holster communicates with the operations centre and exploits the LTE data connection. In view of the prolonged use in mobility, the device is advantageously powered by means of long-life batteries, of which a second backup unit is provided.
The central computer to which the devices are connected resides at the operations centre and allows the remote management and monitoring software to be executed. Said system provides a standard user interface by means of keyboard, mouse and multiple screens. The connection to the personal portable devices, protected by firewalls on both sides, takes place by means of IP protocol and all the data traffic to and from the remote devices is subjected to AES 256 encryption. The central computer allows the local and remote recording of the data by the portable devices and conveniently contains a database of the personnel employed.
The supervisor at the operations centre can at any time access the positioning information of each of the devices assigned to the control thereof. The operators of the operations centre are also promptly and automatically warned, by means of persistent notification, of the occurrence of emergencies or particular alarm conditions which can be defined during the configuration of the system, assigning a priority level depending on the needs. The devices with which the operators are provided are smart holsters. Advantageously, while out and during patrol, the device will constantly detect the position of the personnel, simultaneously reporting it to the operations centre. The position is detected - preferably - by the GPS receiver, and in case of insufficient coverage, alternative methods such as the identification of the telephone cell will be used. The holster is provided with an audio sensor which allows, by combining it with an artificial intelligence algorithm, to record the characteristic sounds of a shooting. Such microphone is activated upon the extraction of the weapon, it will then be capable of capturing when the pistol is cocked, the moment in which it is cocked, fired giving rise to the explosion at the start of the shot, the shots fired, including other relevant features such as the type of weapon which fired the shot, the insertion of the pistol into the holster, the time taken between the extraction of the weapon and the shot, the time taken between the cocking of the pistol and the shot.
The recordings may then be made available to the competent judicial authority. They will be sent both to the operations centre in real time and recorded on a memory inside the holster itself. Sending information to the operations centre can trigger various actions depending on the event, such as calling for reinforcements, and alerting aid which will send medical units to the scene of the incident. In the case of a private agency, the notification may alert the authorities directly. The data will also be recorded in the internal memory of the device and cannot be changed later. The data recorded in the holster and at the operations centre cannot be tampered with, so as to be able to provide objective evidence if it is consulted together with the recordings on the central computer.
The constant connection with the operations centre ensures, conveniently, an additional form of security for personnel employed as guards or porters who, normally, do not have the same level of equipment as security guards and agents.
The advantages offered by the present invention are apparent in the light of the description set forth herein and will be further clarified by the accompanying figures and the detailed description thereof.

Description of the figures

The invention will be described below in at least one preferred embodiment by way of non-limiting example and with the aid of the accompanying figures, in which:

FIGURE 1 shows a possible embodiment of the holster 100, in which are represented: the sheath for containing the weapon 110, a support 120 in which a magnet 130 is present, the sensor 140 is the computational centre of the holster and performs all the functions described, such module can be detached and replaced by a service button 150, the sensor 140 realises that it is detached thanks to the presence of the magnet 130.
FIGURE 2 shows a possible embodiment of the sensor 140, which forms the nerve of the proposed system. The following components are then enumerated: the digital microphone 200, connected to a computational unit 210, consisting of an arm MCU 211, a control logic 212, and a component specialised in the execution of neural networks 213. In addition to the microphone, such unit interfaces with an AMR sensor 220 to detect contact or not with the magnet 130 and an inductive sensor 230 to detect the presence of the weapon 10 inside the holster 100. The connection is given by an LTE module 240, and the position by a GPS module 250.
FIGURE 3 schematically shows the operation of the invention. An agent removes the weapon 10 from the holster 100, thereby starting the sensor 140 which will begin to monitor the environment thanks to the microphone. The monitoring centre 300 will be simultaneously notified. It will be notified of any event captured by the sensor 140 and as such will save the events in an incorruptible manner. The sensor 140 stops monitoring the environment once the weapon 10 is re-inserted into the holster 100.

Detailed description of the invention

The proposed invention will now be illustrated by way of non-limiting or binding example, using the figures which illustrate some embodiments in relation to the present inventive concept.
With reference to FIG. 1 it is intended herein to present a possible embodiment of the electronic holster for monitoring the shooting 100. The holster 100 consists of two main components, a sheath 110 for containing the weapon 10 and a sensor 140 which provides the computational and connective capacities to the same. The sensor 140 may be replaced by removing it from the holster 110 by means of a service button 150. In doing so, the sensor 140 detaches from the support 120 thereof, through the AMR sensor 220 it detects the distancing from the magnet 130. Consequently, the sensor 140 activates and sends an event to the monitoring centre 300 where an operator views such notification, and after a short period of time returns to standby. A new sensor 140 can therefore be inserted, which in turn will send the notification to the monitoring centre 300 of the entry into operation thereof, then return to standby mode. Most of the time the sensor 140 will be in standby mode, saving battery power. When the weapon 10 is extracted, the inductive sensor 230 detects the absence of the weapon from the holster 100. The sensor exits standby mode and sends a notification to the monitoring centre 300 and starts monitoring the environment using the microphone 200. When the weapon 10 is re-inserted inside the holster 100, it will notify the monitoring centre of the event, and then return to standby mode. At the same time the GPS position monitored by the module 250 is sent to the monitoring centre 300. The computational unit 210 processes the signals from the microphone 200, a neural network integrated in the module 213 will classify the detected sounds as the following events:

removal of the safety catch;
the cocking of the pistol;
shot fired by the weapon;
shots fired by other weapons;
type of weapons that fired the shots;
the action of loading the pistol;

A notification will be created for each of these classifications and sent to the monitoring centre 300. At the same time, it will be possible to detect information such as the time elapsed between the extraction of the weapon 10 and the first shot fired, the number of shots fired, the number of weapons involved, and various other information which will serve to reconstruct the shooting. Each notification issued is sent, by means of the LTE module 240, to the monitoring centre 300. At the same time, each notification is saved both in the internal memory of the sensor 140 and inside the computers of the monitoring centre 300, special precautions are then taken so that this memory is incorruptible and can be used as evidence. Further action can be taken by the monitoring centre 300 by monitoring the notifications received, such as sending reinforcements or aid means to the location indicated by the holster 100. Such a decision may be automated, for example by sending the request for reinforcements as soon as the sensor 140 perceives that the pistol 10 is cocked.
Communications between the holster 100 and the monitoring centre 300 must take place securely, thus the data connection between the device 100 and the monitoring centre 300 occurs by means of an encrypted communication protocol both on the terminal side and on the monitoring centre side. The network and transport level are based on IP protocol. The sensor 140 may be easily integrated with other known components aimed at making holsters more secure. One such example is holsters with smart locks, where the weapon 10 can only be extracted if the fingerprint of the agent is identified. An additional security step is provided by necessary dual consent for unlocking. This requires an explicit request from the agent, for example by placing his finger on the fingerprint reader. This will send a notification to the monitoring centre which, if it considers the extraction justified, will unlock the weapon. In this context, the sensor 140 is inserted as a mechanism to facilitate the extraction of the weapon 10 in dangerous situations, when gunfire is detected, in which case the weapon will be unlocked immediately.
The monitoring centre 300 will thus have a large amount of data to analyse.

Claims

A system including an electronic holster (100) for detecting and monitoring shootings and a monitoring centre (300), said electronic holster (100) comprising two main components: a sheath (110) for containing the weapon (10) and a sensor (140) which provides the receptive, computational and connective capacities to said holster (100); said sensor (140) being interchangeable by actuating a service button (150); said holster (100) is configured to communicating with said monitoring centre (300); said communications are configured to occurring in an encrypted manner on both sides; said communications are configured to being stored both in the holster (100) and in the servers of the monitoring centre (300); said sensor (140) is configured to be in active mode, or stand-by mode; said sensor (140) is configured to entering active mode in the following cases:
(A) the service button (150) is pressed to replace the sensor (140);

(B) the weapon (10) is removed from the sheath (110);

(C) it is inserted for the first time into the special support (120);

said sensor (140) is configured to be in standby mode most of the time so as to save energy; said sensor (140) configured to returning to standby mode after a pre-established number of seconds from activation in the event of (A) and (C); said sensor (140) configured to returning to standby mode only after the weapon (10) is placed back into the sheath (110) in the event of (B); in active mode, said sensor (140) is configured to detect noises through a microphone (200) and it is configured to process the audio through a computational unit (210); said computational unit (210) is configured to send the processed audio to a component for the execution of a neural architecture (213); said component for the execution of a neural architecture (213) is configured to classify the sounds and to detect the following events:
∘ removal of the safety catch;

∘ the cocking of the pistol;

∘ shot fired by the weapon;

∘ shots fired by other weapons;

∘ type of weapons that fired the shots;

∘ the action of loading the pistol;

said sensor (140) being configured to record in its memory events, together with those of removing the weapon (10), inserting the weapon (10) and maintenance of the sensor (140); the sensor is configured such that said events being sent to the monitoring centre (300) by means of an LTE module (240) installed on board said sensor (140); the sensor is configured such that the position of the holster (100) being sent by means of a GPS module (250) installed in said sensor (140) upon each notification; the sensor is configured such that said communications occurring in an encrypted manner; said monitoring centre (300) is configured to store - in an incorruptible manner - the events sent by the holster (100); said events allowing the reconstruction of a shooting; said events allowing the reconstruction of the movements during the shooting; said events allowing the monitoring centre (300) to send immediate reinforcements and/or assistance on the ground; said sending of reinforcements and/or assistance being decided automatically upon the first receipt of a given type of notification.
A system according to the preceding claim 1, characterised in that said sensor (140) comprises: a microphone (200) suitable to monitor the environment; a computational unit (210), consisting of an arm MCU (211), a control logic (212), suitable to allow the normal operation of an electronic device and suitable to process the signal of said microphone (200); said processed signal is configured to being sent to a component specialised in the execution of neural networks (213); said component (213) is configured to classify the sounds in significant events, for example but not limited to:
- removal of the safety catch;

- the cocking of the pistol;

- shot fired by the weapon;

- shots fired by other weapons;

- type of weapons that fired the shots;

- the action of loading the pistol;
the LTE module (240) being configured to send said events; said communication is configured to occurring in encrypted manner; said communication configured to including a geolocation tag provided by the GPS module (250); said communication configured to being saved - in an incorruptible manner - in the memory of the sensor (140); said sensor (140) comprising a battery which allows the operation thereof throughout the operator's shift; said sensor (140) being configured to be replaced in a few seconds; said sensor (140) being attached by means of a support (120) to the sheath (110) which contains the weapon (10); said support (120) comprising a magnet (130); said magnet (130) being configured to be detected by said AMR sensor (220) present in the sensor (140); said sensor (140) being removable from said support (120) by means of a service button (150); said sensor (140) being configured to detect the presence of the weapon (10) in the sheath (110) by means of an inductive sensor (230).
A system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the communication between said holster (100) and said monitoring centre (300) is configured to occur by means of an encrypted communication protocol both on the terminal side (100) and on the monitoring centre side (300); said communications at the network and transportation level being based on IP protocol.
A system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that an operator, in an operations centre (300), is capable of viewing the notifications from said holster (100) and the operator is capable of performing the following operations based on the notifications received:
- contact the operator via radio;

- dispatch assistance;

- dispatch health aid.
A system according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 3, characterised in that, based on the notifications received from said operations centre (300), the system is configured such that operations such as: contacting the operator via radio; dispatching assistance; dispatching health aid; can be automated and stored in the memory of the monitoring centre in an incorruptible manner.
A system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the device (140) and the memory of the operations centre (300) are configured such that the notification records can be stored therein in an incorruptible manner, thus being suitable to be used to reconstruct the events of a shooting such as: the history of the events; who fired first; the number of people involved in the shooting; the weapons involved in the shooting; such data being usable as an evidence element.
A system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that said sensor (140) can be replaced by removing it from the sheath (110) by means of a service button (150); said sensor (140) being configured to detach from the support (120) thereof, to detect - through said AMR sensor (220) - the movement away from the magnet (130) arranged in said support (120); said sensor (140) being configured to exit from the stand-by mode, to send a notification of the relative replacement operation to the monitoring centre (300), to resume the standby mode afterwards; a new sensor (140) being configured to be inserted into the support (120) and to detect the magnet (120) and notify the activation thereof to the monitoring centre (300) and return to standby mode to save energy.
A system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it comprises:
- a function of unlocking the weapon using the operator's fingerprint and unlocking with double consent from the operations centre (300);

- a function of activation of a microphone (200) by said sensor (140) exiting from the standby mode;

- a function of detecting gunfire by said sensor (140) and sending a notification to said operations centre (300);

- a function of automatic release of the weapon (10) by said sensor (140), in case of detection of gunfire, avoiding the double authorisation coming from the operations centre (300).
A system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it is configured to detect data such as:
- time elapsed between the removal and cocking of the weapon (10);

- time spent between cocking (10) and the first shot;

- average time between the gunfire;
wherein said operations centre (300) is configured to store said data to analyse the behaviour of the operators on the ground.
A system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the incorruptibility of the records of the notification activities is obtained thanks to the blockchain technology for the creation of log files relating to the maintenance, removal and audio events processed by the neural unit (213).
A system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said neural unit (213) in the sensor (140) can be trained to detect types of events different from the specified ones.