A Winning Security Plan
Milwaukee Bucks protect new Fiserv Forum arena and growing downtown entertainment district with intelligent surveillance solution
- By Mark McCormack
- Aug 01, 2019
In the world of sports, oftentimes there’s as much action in the
stands as there is on the floor. That’s why the Milwaukee Bucks
felt it was so important to design their new stadium with a network
of security cameras to safeguard the welfare of players
and fans alike. The new Fiserv Forum, which opened its doors
in 2018, boasts an array of more than 850 IP cameras monitoring
everything from the 17,500-seat arena bowl to the concourse lined
with concession stands and eateries to the upper deck social clubs,
loft boxes and VIP suites.
For added security, the Bucks also installed exterior cameras to protect
the Fiserv Forum perimeter, parking lot, gate entrances and plaza.
Creating a Destination Spot
Packed with Activity
The 128-foot building, with its striking zinc-wrapped exterior, is the
focal point for a 30-acre development underway in the heart of downtown
Milwaukee called Deer District. When completed, the district
will include the Bucks training center, a sports science center, an entertainment
block of restaurants, pubs and sports bars, medical and
business offices, and a mix of hotels, apartments and parking facilities.
With a robust calendar of NBA and collegiate games, big name concerts
and other activity drawing tens of thousands of locals and visitors
to Fiserv Forum most days of the week, security staff shoulders
a lot of responsibility for protecting people and property.
“The Bucks have evolved from just being an NBA team to a sports
and entertainment group,” said Adam Stockwell, vice president of
Security for the Milwaukee Bucks organization. “So, my team not
only handles all the security aspects of the new arena, we oversee
security for the Bucks training center and the whole entertainment
plaza—about 30 acres in total.”
As the entertainment complex continues to expand, the Bucks organization
plans to install and integrate additional cameras into their
enterprise solution.
Using a Zone Defense Strategy
To manage security across the sprawling campus, the Bucks turned
to Johnson Controls (JCI), security specialists and an Axis partner.
The JCI team created a robust solution that streams all the Axis cameras to the Arena Operations Center
(AOC), where security staff can view the
video on a dozen 60-inch monitors using an
enterprise video management software. JCI
grouped the cameras into quadrants allowing
Bucks security staff to watch an area
from multiple viewpoints simultaneously or
review video of an incident from multiple
camera angles.
“On event day, we can have a dozen or
more people monitoring their specific area of
responsibility,” Stockwell said. “They could
be from the police or fire department, housekeeping,
food service or even guest services.
The configuration allows an operator to toggle
between a full screen image and a mosaic
of 16 camera views.”
Capturing Irrefutable
Detail with Amazing Clarity
Stockwell points to the 20-megapixel AXIS
Q1659 Network Cameras as one of the biggest
boons to his department.
“We put these powerful cameras in our
upper and lower bowls, along with AXIS
Q6155 PTZ cameras so we can look at any
section and identify the person in a specific
seat,” Stockwell said. “We want to be sure
that if we decide to eject someone, or give
them a warning for egregious behavior,
that we’re sending our security staff to the
right guy, especially if it’s one of our season
tickets holders.”
The busy concourse is another high-priority
area. There, the Bucks deployed a mix
of AXIS P37 multi-sensor cameras and AXIS
P38 panoramic cameras to maintain a watchful
eye on myriad concession areas. They also
used an outdoor version of these camera
models to monitor entrance gates and the
plaza where crowds tend to congregate.
“With the PTZs we put on the corners of
the building, I can see something a mile away,
zoom in on it and tell who the person is,”
Stockwell said. “It’s a very powerful camera.”
Stockwell credits his Axis support team
for ensuring the optimal solution to meet the
demands of the environment. For instance,
the account manager happened to be at a
Bucks game one night and stopped by the
AOC just to see how the system was doing.
He noticed a couple of cameras that needed
a quick adjustment—the aspect ratio of one,
the white balance of another—to improve
the quality of their views.
“He did a quick bit of programming
right on the spot and instantly upgraded
our usability,” Stockwell said. “That’s real
customer support.”
Pivoting Between
Offense and Defense
Like any large entertainment venue, Fiserv
Forum has its share of incidents.
“When you blanket the property with as
many cameras as we have, there’s not much
you miss,” Stockwell said.
Given that the cameras are deliberately
overt, it sometimes amazes Stockwell how
people seem to ignore their presence. In one
case, a bartender thought they could grab a
quick nip between customers. The cameras
documented the infraction, allowing management
to quickly mitigate the issue before
it escalated. In another instance, an altercation
in the stands led to police escorting a fan
from the stadium. The fan’s lawyer attempted
to sue the police, claiming they assaulted
his client. The video proved otherwise and
the suit was immediately dropped.
Sometimes incidents happen behind the
scenes, too. For instance Stockwell spoke
of a time when a delivery truck damaged a
loading dock door, video was used to prove
the driver was at fault.
The network of cameras have also proved
invaluable during medical emergencies. In the
midst of a recent Milwaukee Marathon, security
received a medical call from the crowded
plaza. In the AOC, an operator quickly pulled
up the cameras in that quadrant, saw who
they were talking with and what kind of medical
emergency was happening.
“With the fantastic coverage we have, we
get excellent situational awareness,” Stockwell
said.
Improving Gate Flow
Whether it is game day or a concert, managing
the flow of people into the stadium can
be a real challenge.
“It gets super crowded on the plaza as
people start lining up at the gates,” Stockwell
said. “We might have 50 people walking in
one entrance and 300 at another.”
Resource managers in the AOC use the
Axis cameras to continuously monitor the
queues and redirect staff to different locations
to expedite ticket scanning and bag
checks. In case of a real bottleneck, they
might instruct security to redirect fans to a
less crowded entrance.
Stopping Stalkers
and Welcoming VIPs
The security staff is currently evaluating facial
recognition software to embed on the
surveillance system.
“We’re already anticipating all the ways
this technology will help us improve our operations,”
Stockwell said.
Those improvements run the gamut from
apprehending known celebrity stalkers to
helping law enforcement track individuals on
their most-wanted list to alerting guest services
when VIPs are in the stadium.
Becoming a Victim
of Their Own Success
The old Bradley Center arena housed a mere
60 security cameras. Stockwell notes that the
jump to over more than in the new Fiserv Forum
has made a huge difference in the Bucks
security landscape, especially when it comes
to interacting with local law enforcement.
“Now we have police asking us for footage
of vehicle accidents outside the arena,”
Stockwell said. “In a recent hit-and-run, the
camera footage was so sharp we were even
able to provide the license plate number.”
As the Bucks organization grows more
familiar with the forensic value of the Axis
cameras, the number of internal requests to
pull up video for investigations continues
to rise.
“We’ve become a bit of
a victim of our own success,”
Stockwell said.
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2019 issue of Security Today.