Monitoring systems and methods for use in security, safety, and business process applications utilizing a correlation engine are disclosed. Sensory data from one or more sensors are captured and analyzed to detect one or more events in the sensory data. The events are correlated by a correlation engine, optionally by weighing the events based on attributes of the sensors that were used to detect the primitive events. The events are then monitored for an occurrence of one or more correlations of interest, or one or more critical events of interest. Finally, one or more actions are triggered based on a detection of one or more correlations of interest, one or more anomalous events, or one or more critical events of interest. Events may come from sensory devices, legacy systems, third-party systems, anonymous tips, and other data sources. The present invention may be used to increase business productivity by improving security, safety, and increasing profitability of business processes.