Pennsylvania City Develops Safe City Initiative With DVTel Technology

  • Sep 20, 2010

DVTel Inc. recently announced that the City of Wilkes-Barre, Pa. is protecting the city’s square, downtown and other high risk areas in the city with DVTel’s intelligent Security Operations Center (iSOC) platform and its Altitude family of PTZ and fixed IP cameras.

The project uses DVTel’s iSOC platform to manage and monitor 150 DVTel IP cameras throughout the city. By the end of this year, Wilkes-Barre will have more than 250 cameras in operation, making it one of the largest per capita camera deployments in the United States. Schneider Electric designed and installed the system for the city.

“Small communities throughout the country are having big city problems with crime and drugs and gangs. We had some progressive leadership in our community and we didn’t want to react five years down the line; we wanted to be proactive,” said J.J. Murphy, the former City Administrator for Wilkes-Barre.  Murphy has now started his own consulting business, Goals Consulting, to assist other cities with securing grant funds for similar projects.

The Safe City Initiative for Wilkes-Barre is a $2.8 million project paid for by stimulus funds. Grant money came from Federal, Pennsylvania State Gaming and Pennsylvania Community and Economic Development funds.

Wilkes-Barre began building the foundation for its Safe City Initiative in 2007 when it built out its wireless network citywide and started a non-profit organization, Hawkeye Security Solutions, to run the camera project and operate a command center to monitor the city’s cameras.

The DVTel iSOC platform enables the city’s command center to manage and monitor surveillance video from the hundreds of cameras located throughout Wilkes-Barre 24/7. iSOC creates a common operational picture that enables users to capture, manage, analyze, integrate, and then act on previously unorganized and overly complex data. The results are improved reaction time, enhancing operator productivity and a reduction in incidents.

“At Schneider Electric we leveraged our system design expertise for Wilkes-Barre, ensuring seamless connection and integration for the DVTel IP cameras and iSOC platform,” said Sam Belbina, vice president of systems integration east for Schneider Electric. “This project has proved unique given the number of cameras deployed throughout the city and the wireless network that serves as its backbone.” 

Even though the system is only less than a year old, it has already proved a success, with the Wilkes-Barre Police Department using the surveillance system to catch several criminal incidents on video and then arrest the suspects. Police expect to rely on the tool to assist it with solving crimes in the future.

 

Featured

  • Report: 47 Percent of Security Service Providers Are Not Yet Using AI or Automation Tools

    Trackforce, a provider of security workforce management platforms, today announced the launch of its 2025 Physical Security Operations Benchmark Report, an industry-first study that benchmarks both private security service providers and corporate security teams side by side. Based on a survey of over 300 security professionals across the globe, the report provides a comprehensive look at the state of physical security operations. Read Now

    • Guard Services

  • Identity Governance at the Crossroads of Complexity and Scale

    Modern enterprises are grappling with an increasing number of identities, both human and machine, across an ever-growing number of systems. They must also deal with increased operational demands, including faster onboarding, more scalable models, and tighter security enforcement. Navigating these ever-growing challenges with speed and accuracy requires a new approach to identity governance that is built for the future enterprise. Read Now

  • Eagle Eye Networks Launches AI Camera Gun Detection

    Eagle Eye Networks, a provider of cloud video surveillance, recently introduced Eagle Eye Gun Detection, a new layer of protection for schools and businesses that works with existing security cameras and infrastructure. Eagle Eye Networks is the first to build gun detection into its platform. Read Now

  • Report: AI is Supercharging Old-School Cybercriminal Tactics

    AI isn’t just transforming how we work. It’s reshaping how cybercriminals attack, with threat actors exploiting AI to mass produce malicious code loaders, steal browser credentials and accelerate cloud attacks, according to a new report from Elastic. Read Now

  • Pragmatism, Productivity, and the Push for Accountability in 2025-2026

    Every year, the security industry debates whether artificial intelligence is a disruption, an enabler, or a distraction. By 2025, that conversation matured, where AI became a working dimension in physical identity and access management (PIAM) programs. Observations from 2025 highlight this turning point in AI’s role in access control and define how security leaders are being distinguished based on how they apply it. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    The latest Qualcomm® Vision Intelligence Platform offers next-generation smart camera IoT solutions to improve safety and security across enterprises, cities and spaces. The Vision Intelligence Platform was expanded in March 2022 with the introduction of the QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC), which delivers superior artificial intelligence (AI) inferencing at the edge.

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area.

  • Connect ONE’s powerful cloud-hosted management platform provides the means to tailor lockdowns and emergency mass notifications throughout a facility – while simultaneously alerting occupants to hazards or next steps, like evacuation.

    Connect ONE®

    Connect ONE’s powerful cloud-hosted management platform provides the means to tailor lockdowns and emergency mass notifications throughout a facility – while simultaneously alerting occupants to hazards or next steps, like evacuation.