Page 59 - Security Today, March 2020

Q60 Series’ extreme low-light sensitivity is especially useful,” said Sutton. “Plus, their optical zoom range has been phenomenal.”
Working Out the Technical Details
Integrating all the different video sources into the VIC had its challenges. Cellular companies complained that high concentra- tions of cameras in certain locations were draining bandwidth. Recording all the video in-house consumed an enormous amount of 4G bandwidth. Furthermore, the network outgrew the capac- ity of APD’s original VMS. Working out all these issues required some creative thinking.
When APF launched the collaborative initiative, the team chose to implement a dual management system: a VMS for city- deployed cameras and a separate Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) to integrate camera feeds from the mixed technologies of other stakeholders’ surveillance systems.
The open application programming interface of the city’s Axis cameras has afforded APD the ability to continuously shop for best-of-breeds solutions as technologies and security system ven- dors innovate and change over time.
In 2016, the team decided to migrate to the Community Con- nect framework, built on Genetec Federation technology that links independent video systems back to the Atlanta Police Department. Today, most cameras in the system stream directly to the cloud us- ing Genetec’s video surveillance as a service solution Stratocast. Officers can now access private video footage as needed.
“This not only helps the VIC reduce bandwidth consumption but gives us the ability to share a particular piece of video in mul- tiple directions such as out to other precincts or responder com- mand posts without having to feed it through the VIC,” Sutton said.
Working Together For a Safer City
In most cases, APD only has permission from outside entities to view their video live, but not record it. Nor does APD have per- mission to manipulate a private entity’s cameras, but there have been exceptions.
According to Maj. Neil Klotzer, there was an incident recently where an employee at a local business was panning the area with its company’s PTZ camera and heard some gunshots. Startled by the sound, she accidentally tilted the camera in a not-so-useful di- rection. Since APD had been granted prior permission to control the camera remotely, an officer was able to redirect the camera to better survey the scene and capture important situational details.
“From our perspective, the more cameras we have in an area the better,” said Major Klotzer. “Operation Shield dem- onstrates that working together we can build
a safer, more secure city for everyone. And we
can do it while respecting the right to individ-
ual privacy.”
Kevin Taylor is the business development man- ager, Smart Cities, at Axis Communications Inc.
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