This invention relates to a system for identifying complex event patterns in real-time video analytics data input, the system comprising a query compiler, a surrogate model, a first inference module, and a second inference module. The invention also relates to a method for identifying complex event patterns in real-time video analytics data input, comprising: converting a query into a nondeterministic finite automaton using a query compiler; predicting a surrogate score using a surrogate model; estimating the probability that a window matches a query pattern; filtering out windows unlikely to match the query pattern; adaptively instantiating events within the window until it can be determined whether a match is guaranteed or impossible; and returning a window guaranteed to contain a match.