Clearing the Halls

Clearing the Halls

School district gets a clearer view with multi-megapixel cameras

The Edwardsville Community Unit School District, which encompasses 185 square miles of the suburban St. Louis town of Edwardsville, Ill., is one of the oldest school districts in the state. It serves 7,500 K-12 students at 14 schools.

Typically, the district has been relatively advanced in applying security technology. Starting in 2000, it installed analog cameras and VCRs for a video surveillance program. That technology soon proved insufficient for its needs, though, and in 2003 the district switched out the VCRs for DVRs and upgraded the analog camera technology, using encoders to connect existing analog cameras to the district’s expanding IP network.

“As new buildings came online we wanted to take advantage of and utilize the new technology that was available," said Director of Technology Bill Miener. By 2007, Edwardsville was ready to switch out its analog cameras and encoders and move to a completely IP-based video surveillance system. The district’s technology wish list included increased resolution, clarity and PoE capabilities available only from top-of-the-line megapixel IP cameras.

So Miener and his team started test-driving cameras from several different manufacturers, temporarily installing the hardware at several different campuses and evaluating the performance on their laptops. “After testing over several weeks, we concluded that we liked what the IQeye cameras offered, and they were affordable for the budget we had available at that time,” Meiner said.

Protection Inside and Out

The district started with 48 IQeye cameras. Now it has 471, two-thirds of which are indoor cameras. IQeye Sentinels are installed in the outdoor locations, and Alliance domes are installed indoors; resolutions for all the cameras range from 3 MP to 5 MP. Milestone open-platform software for IP network-based video surveillance manages the camera data.

Miener said the district’s old PTZ cameras started wearing out right about when the warranties expired. Rather than replace them with new PTZs, Edwardsville schools now install IQeye Sentinels in a special housing, each covering a 60-degree field of view. “The Sentinels— we love them,” Miener said. The district has also installed 24 Sentinels in its large sports complex in addition to the units in its school building.

During the school day, a security officer in each school monitors only local cameras, focusing on entrances/exits and doing a video “tour” throughout the building. Video is stored for seven to 10 days so security staff can review any incidents that may have transpired. In addition to monitoring at each school, at least three Edwardsville senior staff members can access all camera views whenever they need them.

The cameras act as a deterrent, as well, because the clear view means staff members can identify perpetrators and hold them accountable.

“We don’t have a lot of problems anymore because the troublemakers know about the cameras; it’s a very effective deterrent,” Miener said.

On top of all that, the switch to IP saved the school district money. It no longer has to pay for the maintenance on broken PTZs, and the smaller number of cameras translated into budget savings.

“In the past with our analog cameras, if we were more than 15 to 20 feet from the camera, identifying someone was hard,” Miener said.

“Once we went with multi-megapixel technology, it’s been a leap in capability. At 60 feet, we see exactly what happened. These cameras are three, four times more effective. That was amazing for us, and costeffective.”

This article originally appeared in the November 2011 issue of Security Today.

About the Author

Wendi Burke is the Senior Director of Marketing for 3xLOGIC.

Featured

  • New Report Reveals Top Trends Transforming Access Controller Technology

    Mercury Security, a provider in access control hardware and open platform solutions, has published its Trends in Access Controllers Report, based on a survey of over 450 security professionals across North America and Europe. The findings highlight the controller’s vital role in a physical access control system (PACS), where the device not only enforces access policies but also connects with readers to verify user credentials—ranging from ID badges to biometrics and mobile identities. With 72% of respondents identifying the controller as a critical or important factor in PACS design, the report underscores how the choice of controller platform has become a strategic decision for today’s security leaders. Read Now

  • Overwhelming Majority of CISOs Anticipate Surge in Cyber Attacks Over the Next Three Years

    An overwhelming 98% of chief information security officers (CISOs) expect a surge in cyber attacks over the next three years as organizations face an increasingly complex and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven digital threat landscape. This is according to new research conducted among 300 CISOs, chief information officers (CIOs), and senior IT professionals by CSC1, the leading provider of enterprise-class domain and domain name system (DNS) security. Read Now

  • ASIS International Introduces New ANSI-Approved Investigations Standard

    • Guard Services
  • Cloud Security Alliance Brings AI-Assisted Auditing to Cloud Computing

    The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, today introduced an innovative addition to its suite of Security, Trust, Assurance and Risk (STAR) Registry assessments with the launch of Valid-AI-ted, an AI-powered, automated validation system. The new tool provides an automated quality check of assurance information of STAR Level 1 self-assessments using state-of-the-art LLM technology. Read Now

  • Report: Nearly 1 in 5 Healthcare Leaders Say Cyberattacks Have Impacted Patient Care

    Omega Systems, a provider of managed IT and security services, today released new research that reveals the growing impact of cybersecurity challenges on leading healthcare organizations and patient safety. According to the 2025 Healthcare IT Landscape Report, 19% of healthcare leaders say a cyberattack has already disrupted patient care, and more than half (52%) believe a fatal cyber-related incident is inevitable within the next five years. Read Now

New Products

  • Automatic Systems V07

    Automatic Systems V07

    Automatic Systems, an industry-leading manufacturer of pedestrian and vehicle secure entrance control access systems, is pleased to announce the release of its groundbreaking V07 software. The V07 software update is designed specifically to address cybersecurity concerns and will ensure the integrity and confidentiality of Automatic Systems applications. With the new V07 software, updates will be delivered by means of an encrypted file.

  • 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.

  • Unified VMS

    AxxonSoft introduces version 2.0 of the Axxon One VMS. The new release features integrations with various physical security systems, making Axxon One a unified VMS. Other enhancements include new AI video analytics and intelligent search functions, hardened cybersecurity, usability and performance improvements, and expanded cloud capabilities