Page 10 - Campus Security & Life Safety, September 2017

UCF Security Team: Jeff Morgan, Director; Jacob Hughey, Camera Coor- dinator; Steven Freund, Access Control Coordinator
and putting technology and processes in place to actively monitor trav- eler locations for natural disasters, terrorist attacks and political unrest,” said Morgan.
UCF hosts many large special events, and the security team had to come up with a way to provide a flexible security solution to enhance the safety of the UCF community. For example, UCF hosts events such football and basketball tailgating, as well as Spirit Splash, which is UCF’s annual Homecoming week tradition. During Spirit Splash, 10,000 to 15,000 students run into the iconic Reflecting Pond, which is adjacent to the university’s main administration building. For these types of events, the team designed and built a mobile camera platform to set up security surveillance in any location at any time. As the team has strong local community police partnerships, they worked with local law enforcement partners to build a wireless camera network. UCF put this system to use for a political campaign visit by President Obama as well as the Florida U.S. Senatorial Debate between Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Patrick Murphy.
To make the wireless camera system work, they outfitted a lightly used UCF broadcast truck to become their new Security Communica- tions Operations University Truck, which they refer to as “SCOUT.” Since it was put into service, it has been used for multiple events not only on campus, but also at the 2017 NFL Pro Bowl Game at Camping World Stadium and the 2017 Daytona 500. The vehicle has a 50-foot mast with two pan tilt zoom (PTZ) cameras, 4 deployable PTZs on tripods, and 4 outward facing security cameras providing security on all sides of the truck. The truck can run on a built-in generator or be
Mobile security cameras are used to help protect UCF Spirit Splash, an annual homecoming tradition.
plugged into a 50 amp circuit. It has a public safety radio and campus radio system, which can be used as a repeater to allow radio commu- nications to work, even without a nearby radio tower to receive and transmit the signals. The communications capability was the result of the security team working closely with their UCF Emergency Manage- ment partners, specifically Joe Thalheimer, UCF’s Warning and Com- munications Coordinator. This truck gives UCF a mobile security and communications capability which can be used anywhere on any of UCF’s campuses for events or in areas where there is a lack of adequate security camera coverage.
The department isn’t stopping there. In addition to its numerous accomplishments to date, they are evaluating and implementing a License Plate Recognition (LPR) system to be installed around campus to help support UCF Parking Services and UCF Police. They continue to build their partnership with UCF IT, as many of the new technolo- gies rely on UCF’s network infrastructure. To make sure the security devices perform well on the wired or wireless network and meet expectations for quality and reliability, UCF IT now bench tests and field tests every new model of camera and card reader before using them on campus.
“We are partnering with our key hardware manufacturers to com- municate our requirements and goals, as well as to be some of the first to evaluate new products as they are announced,” said Morgan. “These partnerships have allowed us to maintain and enhance the interoper- ability of our security systems. UCF’s vision is to continue growing the Department of Security and Emergency Management to meet the existing and increasing university needs, and we are thankful for all the support they have demonstrated.”
Today, having the right team to conduct security management at a large institution of higher education is critical. As technology advanc- es, it is important to stay on top of trends and utilize its full potential as a force multiplier. As threats change, so should
your security posture, and a well-trained, pre- pared and equipped security management team will have the right solution.
Joseph Souza is the assistant director of security at the University of Central Florida Department of Security and Emergency Management.
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