Lighting Up Lansing

Lighting Up Lansing

Video surveillance solution provides more safety at night

Each year in Lansing, Mich., the holiday season unofficially begins with the Silver Bells Parade. On Nov. 22, 2013, approximately 80,000 people crowded this city’s streets to see the parade that ends in front of the Michigan State Capitol building with a traditional tree lighting ceremony. The crowd shouts along with the countdown from 10; the grand marshals throw a giant ornamental switch; and the tree lights are brilliantly illuminated, while a giant fireworks display lights the sky.

This year, the parade was made safer and more secure by the presence of a newly-upgraded, video surveillance system featuring Samsung IP cameras at the Michigan State Capitol, a fully-operational building that is also a National Historic Landmark maintained by the Facility Department.

“We determined that we needed additional views in order to increase security at the Capitol,” said Steve Benkovsky, executive director of the Michigan Capitol Committee, Legislative Council Facilities Agency for the state of Michigan. “Beyond that, we wanted to improve our ability to identify individuals in video.”

Integrator Marches In

Detroit-based security integrator Camtronics has a long history with the state of Michigan, having handled the original video deployment at this capitol four years earlier. The company worked with the Metro Airport, designing systems for their operation, and with the governor’s residence, during the Jennifer Granholm Administration. Their long-standing relationship was a prime reason for the selection of Camtronics as an integrator for the Lansing Tree Lighting project.

Because of the historical value of this capitol building, adding security cameras to it was a sensitive issue, according to Mark Wellman, president of Camtronics. It was important that any additions, such as the mounting of security cameras, would preserve the capitol’s historical appearance. Therefore, the building’s illumination was designed with spotlighting, making it less than ideal for identification of people at night in a security application.

“We provided all of the technical expertise for systems requirements and coverage, and helped the team at the state capital by recommending solutions that could easily be worked into certain types of architecture,” Wellman said. “At the same time, we made sure that nothing compromised the view they needed or the video recording they expected out of these cameras and their positions.” Choosing the Right Cameras

Samsung IP cameras were Camtronics’ recommendation for the deployment, rather than continuing to use cameras from the manufacturer that had been used for the original video surveillance system at this building. According to Wellman, the switch was made primarily for image quality.

“There was a high expectation for performance on these cameras,” Wellman said. “The capital and state police had very specific criteria that they were looking to fulfill, such as the ability to see at night and to clearly identify faces, especially because the lighting was designed to enhance the historic appeal of the building.”

One year earlier, a third manufacturer’s IP cameras had been put up temporarily at the building for a specific event. Wellman said that the detail was so obscured by the cameras’ inability to handle that type of lighting in the darkness, the video was rendered useless.

“They weren’t able to make out faces or details of anyone in the crowd,” Wellman said. “There was nothing but glare from the lights.”

The video quality from the Samsung cameras did not have that problem, though.

“In one instance, there is a camera looking right at one of the ornate light fixtures, and you can still clearly read the sign 20 feet behind it on the ground,” Wellman said. “In fact, out of the cameras that we have installed and looked at to potentially install, we are moving closer and closer to making Samsung our proprietary line.”

The temporary cameras were taken down after the event, and the current cameras on the capitol building will become the permanent solution.

Camtronics installed Samsung cameras: five SND-5010s; four SND-5080s; and five SNP-6200Hs on one of this capitol building’s balcony areas, maintaining Ethernet IP communications from all the new Samsung cameras back to the head end. The only analog units remaining are the original cameras that work through an encoder. Several of the cameras mounted on this building’s exterior use fiber and media converters to accommodate for distance and environmental concerns, including water leakage and chemicals.

“That’s why we suggested putting fiber in, and all of that comes back across media converters to their main switch, which was provided by the capital. We provided the server with expandable storage and the VMS platform,” Wellman said.

These Samsung cameras provide coverage on the east side of the building to view rallies and events on the front lawn.

One-of-a-Kind Mounts

This installation has numerous unique qualities. The sandstone exterior of this 143-year-old state capitol building is original, requiring great care in mounting each camera. The on-site team—Mark McEwan, maintenance mechanic; Bob McDonald, assistant facility manager; and Benkovsky—made each mount by hand.

“There was a lot of personal effort and soul put into making those mounts,” Wellman said. “In some cases, the gentlemen that made them were taking them home at night and crafting them in their garages.

“There was a need to make the cameras swivel upward, so they would be easy to maintain. They also wanted to have them anchored to the existing light brackets so there wouldn’t be any need for holes to be put into the building. So, if the cameras ever had to be removed, there would be only small holes that could easily be filled with grout.”

McEwan designed the mount that made this possible using a 1-inch-thick, 10-foot-long, galvanized pipe that had enough weight to hold the cameras up and maintain its position, even in windy conditions.

In all, it was a holiday gift of improved security that will keep giving into the future.

This article originally appeared in the March 2014 issue of Security Today.

Featured

  • Analysis of AI Tools Shows 85 Percent Have Been Breached

    AI tools are becoming essential to modern work, but their fast, unmonitored adoption is creating a new kind of security risk. Recent surveys reveal a clear trend – employees are rapidly adopting consumer-facing AI tools without employer approval, IT oversight, or any clear security policies. According to Cybernews Business Digital Index, nearly 90% of analyzed AI tools have been exposed to data breaches, putting businesses at severe risk. Read Now

  • Software Vulnerabilities Surged 61 Percent in 2024, According to New Report

    Action1, a provider of autonomous endpoint management (AEM) solutions, today released its 2025 Software Vulnerability Ratings Report, revealing a 61% year-over-year surge in discovered software vulnerabilities and a 96% spike in exploited vulnerabilities throughout 2024, amid an increasingly aggressive threat landscape. Read Now

  • Evolving Cybersecurity Strategies: Uniting Human Risk Management and Security Awareness Training

    Organizations are increasingly turning their attention to human-focused security approaches, as two out of three (68%) cybersecurity incidents involve people. Threat actors are shifting from targeting networks and systems to hacking humans via social engineering methods, living off human errors as their most prevalent attack vector. Whether manipulated or not, human cyber behavior is leveraged to gain backdoor access into systems. This mainly results from a lack of employee training and awareness about evolving attack techniques employed by malign actors. Read Now

  • Report: 1 in 3 Easily Exploitable Vulnerabilities Found on Cloud Assets

    CyCognito recently released new research highlighting critical security vulnerabilities across cloud-hosted assets, revealing that one in three easily exploitable vulnerabilities or misconfigurations are found on cloud assets. As organizations increasingly shift to multi-cloud strategies, the findings underscore significant security gaps that could provide attackers with potential footholds into networks. Read Now

  • Built for Today, Ready for Tomorrow

    Selecting the right VMS is critical for any organization that depends on video surveillance to ensure safety, security and operational efficiency. While many organizations focus on immediate needs such as budget and deployment size, let us review some of the long-term considerations that can significantly impact a VMS's utility and flexibility. Read Now

New Products

  • HD2055 Modular Barricade

    Delta Scientific’s electric HD2055 modular shallow foundation barricade is tested to ASTM M50/P1 with negative penetration from the vehicle upon impact. With a shallow foundation of only 24 inches, the HD2055 can be installed without worrying about buried power lines and other below grade obstructions. The modular make-up of the barrier also allows you to cover wider roadways by adding additional modules to the system. The HD2055 boasts an Emergency Fast Operation of 1.5 seconds giving the guard ample time to deploy under a high threat situation.

  • 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.

  • 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.