IP Video Transforms Policing Of Italian Town

  • Dec 11, 2007
IP video has helped transform the local policing of a small town in Northern Italy. Sergnano has a population of just 3,000 and employs only two law enforcement officers to police the town.

The installation of an IndigoVision IP-CCTV system has enabled the police officers to cover a much larger area more effectively, reduce vandalism and respond more quickly to incidents and crime.

The IndigoVision solution was the key to the success of the project. There was no existing CCTV system to build upon so the new system had to be installed from scratch and provide cover for an area of 5 square miles. Installing traditional analog CCTV technology for the entire area would have been too expensive for a small town like Sergnano.

IndigoVision’s solution was installed on a combined wired and wireless network, allowing remote locations to be cost effectively monitored. The system has been so effective in reducing crimes such as vandalism that the Sergnano Police Department estimates that the system paid for itself within 12 months.

“The new IP CCTV system has allowed the police department to better manage its human resources and to achieve greater control of the territory around Sergnano,” said Police Commander Marco Cattaneo.

The system, supplied by Bettini Video and installed by their local partner Centro Sicurezza Brescia, consists of 11 dome and fixed cameras. These monitor areas such as the primary school, kindergarten, public buildings, cemetery and town square. Control Center, IndigoVision’s IP video and Alarm Management software, is used by the police officers to view live and recorded video from any of the cameras.

The combination of Control Center and the IP network creates a virtual matrix, which is very flexible and highly scalable, allowing cameras to be located at any point on the network.

Recording is achieved with an IndigoVision NVR installed at the police station. High-quality evidential video has already been exported from the system to help prosecute and investigate several crimes. Each camera is connected to an IndigoVision 8000 transmitter/receiver module which converts the analog camera feed into DVD-quality, MPEG-4 digital video for transmission over the network.

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