A method at a computing system includes: obtaining video of an environment including a plurality of objects, wherein the video has a field of view; identifying one or more objects of the plurality of objects within the field of view; defining a zone of interest associated with a first object of the one or more objects, including identifying the zone of interest as one of an alerting zone or a suppression zone; subsequent to the defining, detecting one or more motion events captured in the video occurring at least partially within the zone of interest; when the zone of interest is an alerting zone, causing one or more notifications of the one or more motion events to be issued; and when the zone is a suppression zone, suppressing notifications of the one or more motion events.