1. A method of determining an occurrence of a significant event requiring action in a surveillance system, the method comprising computer-implemented steps of: detecting a potential event; determining event attributes about the potential event; determining object attributes about an object in a video surveillance image associated with the potential event; analyzing the event attributes and object attributes to determine whether the potential event should trigger an action by the video surveillance system; and if the potential event should trigger an action by the video surveillance system, then determining at least one action to be triggered by the video surveillance system.