Wide-Scale Municipal Security
Wisconsin community seeks safety for all departments
- By Courtney Pedersen
- Jan 01, 2013
When Brown County, Wis., decided to install a centralized
surveillance solution throughout its government facilities,
Milestone XProtect Corporate video management software
was deployed over the existing private communications fiber
network to increase safety for its departments.
“We were able to develop a solution that combined multiple aspects, including
the Milestone Federated Architecture and Agent Vi analytics to fit the broad needs
of Brown County,” said Tom Reminga, CTO of Technology Resource Advisors
Inc. “The reliable, cost-effective and scalable nature of the Milestone platform allows
the county’s IT department, along with each department administration, to
easily monitor government buildings for the safety of the community.”
Brown County was searching for a centralized video surveillance solution that
could be administered by the county’s IT department, while also allowing access
to individual departments by respective managers. The local government’s previous
system was made up of disparate DVR systems, which were time- and spaceconsuming
and could not be 100 percent relied upon during or after an event.
An improved IP video management system was designed to keep workers and
the publicly owned property safe, with streamlined efficiency. The county installed
a fiber communications network connecting those buildings, with a complete digital
surveillance system in a significant number of government buildings, incorporating
digital cameras from Axis Communications. Interconnected through the
Milestone VMS and architecture, Brown County can now efficiently monitor sites
such as the airport, museum, courthouse, library, community treatment center
(CTC), jail solid waste facilities and more. Plus, the Milestone open platform allows
the value-adding integration of Agent Vi analytics software.
The solution fosters more efficient staffing, decreasing the need and costs of
having a physical security presence, while keeping a reliable eye on assets.
Comprehensive Coverage Needs
Brown County covers 530 square miles and is home to the Green Bay Packers
NFL football team, 13 townships, nine villages and two cities. When looking to
upgrade its video surveillance system, the county’s Information Services department
searched for a solution that would not only integrate seamlessly with the
existing fiber network, but would also provide efficient, high-resolution digital surveillance
to manage the varied safety needs of the publicly owned facilities.
With departments scattered throughout the area, the ideal solution would allow
administration-controlled, restricted access to video from specific areas, enabling
all departments to share video, providing fast and efficient views of security events. A VMS that offered easy
integration with value-adding thirdparty
systems and multi-phase scalability
for a future-proof investment was
required to meet these demands.
Milwaukee-cased Technology Resource
Advisors Inc. (TRA) carried out
the county-wide installation, deploying
the VMS.
“When the information came
through our department from TRA
about Milestone’s IP open platform,
allowing analytics integrations and
other security systems for access control,
we were very impressed,” said
Kevin Raye, network support manager
at Brown County. “Everything, including
the pricing standpoint and the fact
that the technology is compatible with
a large variety of cameras, helped us
in our final decision to choose this surveillance
solution.”
Full-scale System
“From a user standpoint, the system is
especially great for Brown County,” said
Carrie Borofka, programmer and analyst
for Brown County. “As an administrator
of the software, I turn it on and
quickly open it up and see the entire system—
log in and we’re good to go.”
For users logging in from multiple
sites, the central administrators securely
and rapidly allow or deny access
to viewers as needed. For example, the
CTC is a state-licensed psychiatric facility
where surveillance may be used
for medical purposes, more than security.
Patient privacy concerns are considered,
so the assigned roles set up in
the system mean that unauthorized users
are blocked.
When it came time to roll out the
system, Raye, as the head engineer,
worked to ensure the cameras were
properly installed and calibrated. TRA
provided and deployed the Milestone
solution, as the “brains” of the operation,
Reminga said.
The system’s storage capabilities
give the flexibility to determine video
backup on a camera-by-camera basis.
For example, the county can use license
plate video capture in conjunction with
the data from the application to verify
a customer’s bill at the Solid Waste
Transfer Station. A minimum of 30
days of full video backup is kept for the
county and can be adjusted if archived
images are required for longer periods.
Video can be pruned to use a much
lower frame rate—similar to a series of
digital photographs.
A Centralized Setup
With a system so dispersed throughout
the fourth-largest county in the state,
it was imperative for Brown County to
have its surveillance needs centralized
but also available for each department
to monitor and export video.
The first phase of the networked
camera installation implemented the
VMS system in nine of the departments.
Austin Straubel International
Airport (the third largest in the state),
the CTC, courthouse, jail, public libraries,
Neville Public Museum, the Northern
Building, Sheriff’s department and
the Sophie Beaumont Building are all
equipped with the VMS system and
connected through the Milestone Federated
Architecture.
Analytics Aid the Airport
Throughout Austin Straubel International
Airport, the county has implemented
an analytics system from Agent
Vi, integrated with the Milestone system.
A previous brand of analytics had
multiple issues caused by failing hardware
and inefficient software.
Rather than stationing TSA agents
or security guards at additional checkpoints
in the airport, the Vi-System,
Agent Vi’s real-time detection and alert
software, monitors the video footage for
predefined security and safety events
and scenarios. When an event is detected,
an alert is sent to the system, which
triggers various actions, including live
video pop-up of the relevant camera.
Agent Vi’s analytics are used in various
applications at the airport, including
sterile zone monitoring whereby Vi-
System detects movement by people in
restricted areas and alerts security staff
of such events. With polygons being
drawn in certain regions in the video
images, the security operator is immediately
notified if anyone passes through
a restricted area. This enables an immediate
response in line with the level of
threat associated with the event.
The runways also use Axis thermal
IP cameras to monitor the movement
of airplanes, service vehicles and staff.
Vi-System analyzes the images provided
by the thermal cameras to differentiate
between people, vehicles and
static objects. In this case, Vi-System
has been predefined to detect and alert
when there are people present in a vehicle-
only lane, while disregarding the
movement of vehicles in that area. This
eliminates the need for a physical presence
by the security team in the area of
interest. The corresponding notifications
are sent in real-time to the Milestone
system, allowing an appropriate
response as the event unfolds.
Improved Operations
Having a centralized IP video surveillance
solution provides Brown County
new levels of security that improve operational
processes and protects the investments
of the hard-working community.
TRA trained the Brown County staff
for their new surveillance technology
over numerous one- or two-hour sessions.
“The Milestone platform is very
user friendly, so each session went quite
smoothly,” Reminga said. “Instructing
the team on multiple situations, changing
views and differences between administrative
duties were easily explained
and absorbed quickly by all involved.”
To both TRA and Brown County, it
was very important to know the system
could scale up protection and service,
whether adding more cameras or additional
software with Milestone’s futureproof
system. They continuously weigh
the options of expanding the county’s
monitoring system, researching which
departments can use
security.
This article originally appeared in the January 2013 issue of Security Today.