Surveillance Outta Compton: How a School District Was Unified With a Single Video Solution
An IP surveillance project anchored by Dahua Technology products is earning kudos thanks to remote capabilities, video enhancements, cost savings and more. See how integrator, manufacturer and end user turn a sophisticated solution into simplified success.
The Compton Unified School District was in dire need of an upgraded surveillance system.
Power, Cost Savings Kept in Mind
The CUSDPD designs leveraged a motor on the back gate of the property to access 110V for power to send a signal across a wireless bridge. With strategic placement of cameras elevated on support poles, the video surveillance cameras can capture both the perimeter and interior of the CUSDPD grounds.
Additionally, Benitez created a compact weatherproof enclosure to hold all the electronics, specifically a PoE switch to power the cameras, PoE adapter for the wireless bridge, and he ensured that it is being backed up by a UPS in case of power outage.
“The reason being that he has seen an increased number of power outages in Southern California that a surveillance system cannot afford,” Hernandez says.
The NVR is housed within the police station command center, allowing officers to closely monitor the grounds, buildings and vehicles at a glance to safe-guard the facility and its assets.
Benitez adds that the system design of camera placement on the outside perimeter facing inward is a model that is gaining popularity with other customers and enabling Advanced Alarm to stand out in the market.
Along with cost savings from using wireless products as opposed to relying on digging cable trenches, Hernandez notes that the deployment of higher resolution 4MP wide-angle cameras rather than lower resolution varifocal lens cameras helps CUSD save as well.
“The advantage here is that you see a wider image and can do digital zoom and still see enough details,” he says. “The cameras have Intelligent Video System [IVS] capabilities so we can implement face detection down the road.”
Dispatch officers and staff members have found the system easy to use, reports Wu, who stresses how important staff training is for such technology endeavors. “It’s not as simple as people think: You can’t just watch a bunch of monitors and instantly click,” he says.
School District PD Praises New Tech
From the end user’s perspective, the project has clearly marked the beginning of a beautiful friendship – and meaningful positive impact on the Compton school district whether it be the students, families and faculty or the law enforcement who’s protecting them.
“Having a comprehensive safety and protection plan in today’s world means having real-time information on what is happening at various locations over which you are responsible,” says Wu. “Using modern video camera technology integrated with intrusion and fire alarm systems gives us that capability, which greatly enhances our ability to do our jobs as well as provide intelligence which keeps the officers safe when he responds to a situation.”
Wu points to the remote access capability of the new system as a huge benefit, for personnel to be able to pull up video feeds from various sites and check in on them while at home or even driving around on patrol.
He adds that he’s been impressed with the video clarity and resolution, as well as the vast storage and quick retrieval attributes. The upgrade is already paying dividends.
“An incident did occur, and we were able to pull the footage to get physical descriptions of the suspects. We were able to deter-mine certain MOs and how they selected their final target – how they determined what cars to break in. We determined some of their patterns,” Wu says.
“In addition to footage of the crime, we were able to get background information, which I think could be more helpful in solving crimes because now we know more than just the actual crime itself. We can see where the entry points are made. You can also tell if someone has been watching the location for a while versus someone who walked by, saw an opportunity, and came in. In other words, you can start to understand what the motivation was for the crime and not just what the method was.”
After one parking lot break-in, Wu notes, someone was seen on camera moving from shadow to shadow, set up and waiting while keeping an eye on the car he eventually broke into. Examining the footage led to further security improvements.
“We looked at that and then we addressed the issue by putting more lights in the areas he was using to hide,” Wu says. “That helps us prevent crime by changing the environmental factors.”
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