Page 8 - Security Today, July/August 2018

Deterring Misconduct in the City
City of Haverhill deploys cameras across sites and on an MRAP vehicle to discourage criminal activity
By Steve Stanberry
The city of Haverhill in northern Massachusetts has a popula- tion of roughly 63,000 and a downtown situated on the Mer- rimack River. With a popular historic district, the city had a mishmash of security camera systems operating for years. The system provided subpar and inconsistent video footage at critical moments when evi- dence related to crimes and other happenings was of utmost importance. Countless street level cameras were not even usable.
The local police department called a local Axis partner to come aboard and do a major overhaul of both the camera system and the back end network for the city. The goal was to have a stable network and cameras that captured relevant and high-quality footage to be used for investigative purposes. The first actions that were taken as part of this plan were to replace cameras citywide with a unified solution of Axis network cameras
on Milestone XProtect video management software. This entailed over 120 cameras at intersections, parks, the main police building and further city facilities.
Overhauling the network
The Axis partner implemented a 100mb wireless backbone throughout the city using half duplex radios on street poles to go with the 500mb capacity VLAN over the city’s fi- ber network. With that, cameras were able to streamline back to the police building with- out issue from points across the city.
All entrances by roadway in and out of Haverhill are covered in case of incident so that police can track traffic and identify any vehicle that comes or goes through the city. A prisoner transport van is wired with an AXIS F41 Main Unit and AXIS F1035-E Sensor Units that record all action when the vehicle is in use both inside and out. A sepa- rate mobile command unity uses an AXIS
P1357 Network Camera on its 40-foot boom lift for additional security.
The city relies on the Milestone system as they monitor building cameras inter- nally but primarily for reactive use. Admin- istrators have access to Milestone Mobile to easily check in on cameras from phones and tablets remotely. An additional piece to the security puzzle for Haverhill police were spaces in their main building. Jail cells and the evidence room utilize AXIS M1124 while hallways, the sally port and fingerprint areas deploy AXIS P3367-VE for high resolution views with opportunity for expansion.
Cameras on the Move
Taking advantage of the newer technolo- gies available to them, city officials have begun deploying a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle around the city at troubling spots as a strong deterrent to crime. The goal of the vehicle is to drive it to disconcerting locations around the city to let it sit, act as a warning and preventative measure and record its surroundings for 72 hours. Police envision using the MRAP at sites that tend to have more criminal action, potentially with gangs.
The MRAP utilizes a collection of technologies. Of the cameras on the outer body of the vehicle, an AXIS P3225-LVE is housed on the front for situational aware- ness, AXIS Q3505-VE cameras are arranged on the passenger side to focus on the main target area with Axis Lightfinder capabilities and an AXIS F44 with two AXIS F1035-E can be found on that same side for further views. IR illuminators are also in place that can be operated remotely utilizing an AXIS P8221 Network I/O Audio Module to keep video high quality in the dark.
“The MRAP is just another tool in our ar- senal,” said Ron Tuell, network administrator with the Haverhill Police Department. “The idea came from other departments and is used as more of a deterrent. Overall, the Chief has been very happy with the clarity and reliability of these cameras, which were very question- able before we switched the
old system out for these
Axis cameras.”
Steve Stanberry is the busi- ness area director in the Northeast United States at Axis Communications Inc.
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JULY/AUGUST 2018 | SECURITY TODAY
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