Our department also worked with other agencies in the region. We had the D.C. Sniper. Technology helped us solve that. CCTV cameras were able to help us resolve that. After 9/11, we had tons of anthrax scares across the country. Fairfax County dealt with a lot of that. CCTV and some of this technology helped us resolve some of those cases. So, with that, I brought to Bryan, Texas, an understanding of how this integration can have an impact where it can make a community safe. I am, what I would call, the visionary. I am the individual that has to get in there and has to do the political stuff to get us to where we need to go. Deputy Chief Peter Scheets beside me — if you want to know anything about this project, talk to him because he is the man behind the scenes that we as an agency and a city put in place. He got it done for us, and he got it done superbly and the progress is ongoing. What you have to understand is at this level when you’re talking about spending public dollars on technology you better first have a good vision. Two, you better have money. And three, you better work the system to your advantage. If you don’t have any of those three, your project is going to be dead on arrival.
So the goal with what we did is we identified the vision and where we wanted Bryan to be. Our vision was simple. It came from interviews from all the police officers, the staff that worked in the police department, the political structure there, the school systems, the churches — everyone basically. The bottom line: our vision is making Bryan the safest city in Texas. If everyone was behind that vision, all we needed to do was put a plan together to take us in that direction. This was just one component of that plan. Part two is the politics. How do you achieve that? By spending time with all those entities that I just described. In short, they bought into the process by acknowledging the need to help us establish the vision. So now it’s part of their game plan. They own it. So when I come to them and say, ‘Hey, we need an extra $5 to do this,’ and they say, ‘Well, we can’t do that,’ I say, ‘Well, aren’t you committed to the vision we all wrote together?’ So it’s very hard for those from the political structure to say no because they’re already onboard by the mere fact of committing to this.
So now we’ve got the vision and we’ve got the political structure in place, and we know we’re moving in the right direction. Now it becomes an issue of A) finding the money, and B) having the right partnerships. The money initially was easy for us because I took some asset forfeiture money we had set aside where we took the criminals’ stuff away from them and sold it. We took the proceeds and put it into an account. We made a decision to use it as seed money. Remember that I’m the visionary and I’ve got to play politics. So I’m going to use my money first, and then I’m going to go back to the politicians and say, ‘I used mine; I’m out. Can I please use some of yours?’ We need to finish this project out because it’s already ongoing and we don’t want to compromise and have to go back to our citizens and say, ‘We’re out of money, but aren’t we committed to the vision of making Bryan the safest city in the great state of Texas?’
So now I’ve got the three questions or problems I need solved upfront. So now I’m thinking, ‘OK, whom do we choose as a partner? Who is going to provide surveillance systems to make Bryan the safest city in the great state of Texas? What it comes down to is relationships. People stay with people, or pick people, because they h
Other Security Blog Posts
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In this blog, Paul Boucherle discusses what integrators must do to design the best solutions for end users.
Under Surveillance | April 19, 2012
Are you currently mentoring your employees? SSI Managing Editor Rodney Bosch offers some insight on why mentoring your workers is essential to improving your business.
Laying Down the Law | April 16, 2012
Ken Kirschenbaum advises readers on how to address changes in contracts after modifying the company's name..
Author Bios
Scott joined SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION in October 1998 and has distinguished himself by producing award-winning, exemplary work. A Western Publisher Association's Maggie Award winner, his editorial achievements have included blockbuster articles featuring major industry executives. Since graduating in 1986 with honors from California State University, Northridge with a degree in Radio-Television- Film, his professional endeavors have encompassed magazines, radio, TV, film and more.
Although Bosch’s name is quite familiar to those in the security industry, his previous experience has been in daily newspaper journalism. Prior to joining SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION in 2006, he spent 15 years with the Los Angeles Times, where he performed a wide assortment of editorial responsibilities, including feature and metro department assignments as well as content producing for latimes.com.