Inside SSI’s 2016 Security Solutions Award Winners

Security Sales & Integration’s Security Solutions Awards put innovation, creativity and successful deployment in the spotlight as manufacturers and integrators meet access control, video surveillance, security monitoring & other application-specific needs.

VIDEO SURVEILLANCE | Axis Enables Sheriff’s Department to Keep Closer Eye on Activities

Upgrading from its analog camera system, the Grant Parish, La., Sheriff

After the Sheriff’s Department in Grant Parish, La., successfully utilized Axis Communications video encoders with their preexisting analog system, the director of IT decided to deploy Axis P3225-LVE and M3007-PV network cameras in the Detention Center to monitor activity and maintain the safety and security of the facility’s officers and inmates.

Staff installed cameras in the two dormitories covering about 50 inmates in each, plus open areas with tables. The sheriff, wardens and control tower all access the feeds locally and remotely through a Milestone XProtect Pro platform.

“The end user needed an upgraded IP camera system because their old analog cameras were providing a lackluster image and they wanted more usability of the footage,” says Steve Darragh, business area director, South Central, Axis Communi-cations.

“The new IP cameras allowed the Sheriff’s Office to have a clearer view of the corrections facility and other offices.” The sheriff decided on discreet cameras for most of the application, says Darragh.

Mini domes are deployed above the center of the dorm area looking down with quad views and fixed domes are mounted on each side to cover all angles. One p/t/z camera is also utilized for further surveillance capability.

The Axis P3225-LVE deployed is an outdoor-ready, stream-lined fixed dome providing HDTV 1080p video quality. It features a varifocal lens and remote zoom and focus, eliminating the need for hands-on fine tuning. The day and night functionality, together with OptimizedIR and P-Iris control, ensure superb image quality in any lighting conditions.

Axis’ OptimizedIR automatically adapts to the zoom level set at installation, ensuring an evenly illuminated image. Also deployed,  the Axis M3007-PV is a 5-megapixel p/t/z fixed indoor mini dome that provides detailed 360° or 180° panoramic views of areas as large as 7,000 square feet.

Additionally, Axis’ Forensic Capture WDR technology increases forensic usability by highlighting details in dark and well-lit areas.

“The sheriff and warden are able to view the cameras remotely on the Milestone mobile application as well. Being a government facility, the system had to be up and running at all times, so transitioning is a steady process that takes major planning to make sure all staff remain safe even when items are being switched out,” explains Darragh.

The end-to-end solution from Axis and Milestone allowed the Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office to bring preexisting analog cameras onto the network with encoders while consistently adding new cameras as others began to fail. The Axis sales rep introduced camera and accessory options to the end user, who ordered and installed in-house.

The end user got demo of video management software and brought it to the rest of the staff to learn and use, Darragh says. Installation provided a minor challenge in moving people around in order to install cameras and not deal with interference, but otherwise it was a smooth project from start to finish, he adds.

Upgrading from its analog camera system, the Grant Parish, La., Sher-iff

The uniqueness of the project application lies in the speediness of results, notes Darragh, as incidents were caught on video within hours of the initial installation including staff identifying contraband in the dormitory area. “We saw it easily with the new cameras,” said Cpl. Bryon Taylor of the Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office.

“With that analog equipment, the inmates didn’t have to hide it at all and we couldn’t always identify it. The inmates even knew what we were doing but still didn’t think that the quality was as good as it was. It was fabulous.”

Support for the Axis Camera Application Platform enables the installation of intelligent video applications such as people counting. The M3007-PV provides four individually cropped out and dewarped view areas where users can digitally pan, tilt and zoom in on areas of interest.

The vandal- and dust-resistant camera can be used to detect activities, track the flow of people and improve area management. Plus, Zipstream technology lowers bandwidth and storage.

“The video quality is just light years better than what we had,” Taylor says. “It is allowing us, from a safety perspective, a much greater level of control and visibility to what goes on inside of our facility. Without a doubt it is increasing officer safety.”

Hartford police officers and operations analysts are able to use Axis cameras in tandem with Milestone XProtect VMS and Mile-stone Mobile to keep watch centrally and use real-time information to their advantage.

VIDEO SURVEILLANCE | Milestone VMS Plays Chief Role in Hartford PD Patrol

The Connecticut capital city of Hartford began expanding and upgrading its surveillance capabilities in 2013 when its new Public Safety Complex and police headquarters opened.

The city enlisted Vulcan Security Technologies in nearby South Windsor, Conn., to help select and implement a new IP camera system that could expand to include hundreds of cameras.

Milestone XProtect Corporate video management software (VMS) was selected, along with powerful Axis network cameras.

The system steadily expanded as Axis cameras were added to monitor City Hall, public parks and city streets – and led to the need for a larger, centralized command station where video could be managed and monitored so they could better assist officers on the street, according to Milestone.

In 2015, the Hartford Police Department established its Real-Time Crime Center and Data Intelligence Center. Made possible by $1 million in state and federal grants, the Crime Center operated out of a Chevrolet Tahoe for three years until the new location was finished.

Housed in the former Hartford Police headquarters, the Crime Center includes a smart wall with 30 55-inch 4K video monitors. Each monitor is connected to a high-powered workstation, which runs the Milestone XProtect Smart Client on every screen. The Center is staffed almost around-the-clock by three civilian crime analysts who monitor the nearly 450 Axis p/t/z cameras located throughout the city.

“The Milestone open platform VMS, combined with Milestone Mobile and Axis cameras, provide excellent quality video feed and analytics,” says David King, senior key account sales manager, Milestone. “Furthermore, the technologies used in the Real-Time Crime Center and Data Intelligence Center have been expanded, allowing the police department to set up a mobile command center for public events and activities around the city.”

Using the Milestone XProtect Screen Capture, analysts are able to view video, as well as data feeds from the ShotSpotter gunshot detection system, 911 dispatch system and social media mining tools used to monitor potentially violent or hostile events.

The analysts use this information to assist officers with crimes-in-progress and forensically, to solve crimes after the fact.

“The city needed to deploy video surveillance for monitoring, situational awareness, potential evidence. The IP open platform system allows for integrations to add powerful functionality, such as BriefCam Video Synopsis for super-fast evidence search,” says Tyler Cullen, director of IT for Vulcan Security Technologies.

Additionally, situational awareness and response is aided by the implementation of a HawkEye Effect system from Milestone partner HawkEye. The system uses GPS-style coordinates to provide timely, automatic, preprogrammed responses to critical incidents, according
to the HawkEye website.

Hartford police officers and operations analysts are able to use Axis cameras in tandem with Milestone XProtect VMS and Mile-stone Mobile to keep watch centrally and use real-time information to their advantage.

“The Hawkeye Effect system is another force multiplier for the Crime Center and law enforcement as well,” Cullen says. “By being able to integrate sensor technologies and GPS data with response systems, we’re able to create a multilayered approach to security.”

Milestone Mobile was also rolled out to several officers and detectives, which enables them to record evidence from a crime scene or real-time video of a crime in progress and relay it back to the Crime Center. Cullen says the integrator was very careful to follow all state/ local guidelines, permitting and use of UL-compliant products.

Additionally, much coordination was required between the integrator and the public utilities for right of way access to street poles and other areas, as well as cooperation among other city departments, Cullen notes.

Post-installation one-on-one user training was provided for crime analysts and police personnel on how to get the most out of the Milestone VMS as well as the BriefCam video synopsis system. Already the video upgrade has reaped benefits.

In one incident, for example, cameras showed an officer-involved motor accident but proved the officer had his emergency lights properly active, not just going through intersection blind, Cullen says.

The project is a work in progress, notes King. Phase Two is happening soon with another 43 light poles being added to the existing system this winter. Camera count was anticipated to bump up to 600 by the end of 2016. “We’re looking at adding license plate recognition analytics soon, as well as other real-time video analytic behaviors; perhaps bag drop, crowd detection, man down detection,” says Cullen. “Perhaps a couple of thermal cameras for smoke and fire detection.”

Page 3: Find out who took home awards for Security Monitoring and more!

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