Inside Minneapolis’ Intercity Ring of Protection
Find out how security integrator Pro-Tec Design and VMS specialist Milestone teamed up to facilitate a video surveillance solution for eight cities covering more than 200 square miles around greater Minneapolis.
Integrator Pro-Tec Design identified the parallel and individual needs of each municipality within the Twin Cities area. The widespread commonality for all cities was the need for an improved IP video management system to replace legacy analog systems. Pictured: (l-r) Tim Ferrian, Pro-Tec Design; Jim Constantineau, Farmington (Minn.) Police; and Nick Lovejoy, city of Edina, Minn.
Building a ‘Ring of Protection’
Pro-Tec developed the idea for a collective solution with numerous municipalities based on a standardized IT backbone. With each area using the same platform, it would maintain its own system yet open up the option to share video feeds in case of an incident or emergency that crosses town borders. In addition, with a combined Milestone VMS service, updates and maintenance would be streamlined for quick response from Pro-Tec.
“We began working individually with the cities and now assist quite a few,” Ferrian says. “The agencies own and operate each individual system, but if there is any incident where a neighboring town is also using Milestone and needs help in an emergency, it is convenient and expeditious if the other organizations can step in with their own camera feeds.”
There are many common themes within city surveillance. They include watching out for the visitors of city halls; keeping track of persons in custody at police stations; providing evidence for investigations; protecting staff and equipment; monitoring community pools; protecting the government from liability; and watching intersections for public works operations (moving snow, salting roads), among numerous other functions.
With these commonalities, each city also has unique needs for surveillance whether it is monitoring a busy farmer’s market, senior centers, community sports, historical landmarks, water treatment facilities or water towers – the list goes on.
Eight cities surrounding Minneapolis are currently linked via Pro-Tec’s Milestone VMS solution: Shoreview, Farmington, Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Minnetonka, Maple Grove, Edina and Minneapolis proper. In addition, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDOT), Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, and the Minneapolis Convention Center are included within Minneapolis’ ring of protection.
Protecting Government Assets
With a full fiber network connecting most of Brooklyn Center’s government buildings, the city’s IT Director, Patty Hartwig, looked to take full advantage of the technology opportunities available. Prior to the fiber network, many of the municipality’s buildings either had no video surveillance or were standalone analog surveillance systems. The fiber network allowed for a cost-effective video surveillance solution, including one shared location for storage.
A flexible solution was required to manage the diverse needs of the city. In addition to general government operations, Brooklyn Center owns and operates a convention center, two liquor stores and a golf course. All business units are now networked with the Milestone video solution. Additionally, administrators in the police department, general government facilities and two of the four schools in the district (an elementary and high school) are integrated into a video system.
“Ease of use was extremely important when deciding on our VMS installation,” says Hartwig. “We did our research looking for user-friendly, adaptable and easy-to-modify solutions. Our system needed to play back and pull up video in an instant. We put an extreme value on the VMS protecting our city assets, so we required a product that would be here today, tomorrow and in the future. Milestone has and continues to show that value.”
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