Page 46 - Security Today, July/August 2018

Swinging for the Fence
Security community teams up to help secure 2017 Little League Baseball World Series
BTy Courtney Dillon Pedersen
he Little League Baseball World Series (LLBWS) is the premier sporting event in youth sports. Every year, the small town of Williamsport, Pa., welcomes people from around the world to watch 16 teams compete, ex- hibiting the sportsmanship and true values of what the
Little League program is all about.
Over a 10-day period, hundreds of thousands of people visit the
72-acre Little League International complex, which includes two stadiums, a museum, parking, concessions and a gift shop, sponsor booths, a concourse pavilion and a media center—not to mention security and medical facilities.
In addition to the public spaces, there is the International Grove where the players are housed, have their meals and hang out in the recreation hall. There are also a number of practice fields and batting cages for the teams.
“Security is obviously an important matter for Little League In- ternational and we always want to make sure that we’re doing every- thing we can to monitor our entire complex,” said Brian McClintock, Little League International senior director of communications. “Year
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after year, we’re constantly looking for ways to improve and to work even more closely with the great companies and local law enforce- ment to make sure that it all comes together properly.”
All Eyes on the Prize
With more than 120 permanent network cameras in place at Volun- teer Stadium and Howard J. Lamade Stadium, Little League Interna- tional works to add new technologies each year to keep the installa- tion as secure as possible. Last year’s system advancements included Axis 20-megapixel cameras, thermal imagers, radar perimeter protec- tion and people-counting video analytics.
Also joining the LLBWS technology team in 2017 was Milestone Systems, who provided their XProtect IP VMS. In addition to central management of all cameras and operators, the XProtect Smart Wall gave total situational awareness of the event’s activities. The software supports failover recording servers for such installations that require continued access to uninterrupted video coverage.
“We have a robust video management system in place that al- lows us to monitor cameras and share video with the law enforce-
SPORTS SECURITY