Educating Without Surveillance

Educating Without Surveillance

Administration commits to video solution on campus

Located in beautiful Mission Viejo, Calif., Saddleback College offers more than 300 associate’s degrees as well as academic and occupational certificates from 190 programs. With an enrollment of 40,000 students and 1,250 full- and part-time faculty members, Saddleback has an annual operating budget of $90 million.

This expansive campus has 54 buildings—encompassing 650,000 square feet—and includes an athletic stadium, golf driving range and a childcare center, but no video surveillance cameras.

With growing enrollments and increasing acts of violence on college and school campuses throughout the nation, the administration and board made the decision to deploy a video surveillance solution that would meet specific coverage goals: the childcare center, community education building and parking lot, physical education building, ATM machines and general coverage.

A Top Priority

According to Saddleback College Chief of Police, Christopher Wilkinson, the childcare center in particular was a top priority due to concerns related to the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy and other similar violent incidents.

“Because we have a very robust childcare program for our employees and students, we made it our first priority for camera deployment,” Wilkinson said. “We want to be proactive in the face of these vicious criminal acts that are becoming all too common at schools and colleges.”

Wilkinson said that they were specifically looking for a video management system that was compatible with access control, user friendly, expandable and turnkey, but also for a solution that, as an end user, “didn’t mean having to buy a large, pre-packaged set of options.”

The Solution of Choice

After thorough testing and evaluation at neighboring colleges, campus security officials choose Video Insight Video Management Software and Advidia IP video cameras.

“They were excellent cameras with a wide variety of choices, and were unbelievably affordable,” said Wilkinson.

Saddleback College participated in a Video Insight pilot program that provided free use of a few cameras and software.

The Video Insight VMS solution captures, manages and stores video surveillance across a network at a single location or at multiple locations, while supporting the broadest range of IP and analog camera models. It is feature rich, yet easy to use via a monitoring station, web client or mobile app. As the perfect choice for a VMS deployment, especially at Saddleback College whose end users consist of seasoned police officers accustomed to dealing with security and administrators who tend to be more occasional users, this solution requires little or no training and integrates with campus maps and existing legacy systems such as access control and active directory. Exciting new features like license plate recognition continue to put the software at the technological forefront of the VMS market.

The mix of day/night, PTZ and outdoor Advidia camera models provide coverage in Saddleback’s established priority areas—the childcare center, community education, PE buildings and campus ATMs. The system is so easy to use and deploy that Wilkinson managed the install himself.

“It’s been so officer friendly—I just sit at my desk, go on to the admin, go into the IP address and do it myself,” he said.

The VMS system operates on two, 48 GB Gateway processors on a rack in a secure, locked-down environment. Saddleback College is currently undergoing a fiber upgrade that will provide the VMS with its own dedicated system in the future. The Saddleback College Police Department monitors activity from a video wall consisting of two 52-inch monitors located in the dispatch center. There is an additional 52-inch monitor in the police officer’s report-writing room.

In addition to adding cameras throughout the campus for this deployment, Saddleback College has a sister school and a district office that will also undergo a VMS solution implementation.

“We are setting a standard to provide a uniform solution for all of our locations and are excited to be doing so with Video Insight and Advidia,” Wilkinson said.

A System of Many Uses

Chief Wilkinson said that he is very pleased with the video surveillance coverage and has even found additional uses for the system that he wasn’t expecting.

“We have placed four cameras at our Community Education Building so strategically that we achieve 360 degrees of coverage, providing us full coverage of the busy intersection located there,” Wilkinson said. “On the first day of school, we saw 21 vehicles run the stop sign at that location and were able to dispatch an officer to patrol that area and oversee traffic control.”

Another incident involved a student with a mental health issue wandering the campus. Saddleback College police officers were able to bring up an image of the student and email it to the health center at the other end of campus. The health center then shared the image with the campus medical staff, which resulted in locating the student and providing him with much needed assistance.

One of the best uses of the video system, according to Wilkinson, is the ability to incorporate speakers and audio, resulting in using the VMS and cameras as a public address system.

“The Advidia A-44 IR camera has the capability of audio in and audio out, so I purchased a group of those with the intent of putting them at the main public doors to buildings because the future here is access control. The speakers and cameras integrate with our access control, and when we have a lockdown situation, it allows us to communicate with our faculty.”

Wilkinson also uses the speakers for emergency management; for example, to announce an active shooter, shelter in place or weather threats.

“Implementing this public address system wasn’t the original intent of the system,” Wilkinson said. “But the software development worked to make it happen. I was beyond impressed. I had an idea as to how I wanted this public address audio to work with the Advidia cameras, and development made it happen. They didn’t have to. They already had my business and could very easily have said that the system just wasn’t developed to do that, but the software team went above and beyond in its customer service to make sure that we were a satisfied customer.”

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

Featured

  • Report Shows Cybercriminals Continue Pivot to Stealthier Tactics

    IBM recently released the 2025 X-Force Threat Intelligence Index highlighting that cybercriminals continued to pivot to stealthier tactics, with lower-profile credential theft spiking, while ransomware attacks on enterprises declined. IBM X-Force observed an 84% increase in emails delivering infostealers in 2024 compared to the prior year, a method threat actors relied heavily on to scale identity attacks. Read Now

  • 2025 Security LeadHER Conference Program Announced

    ASIS International and the Security Industry Association (SIA) – the leading membership associations for the security industry – have announced details for the 2025 Security LeadHER conference, a special event dedicated to advancing, connecting and empowering women in the security profession. The third annual Security LeadHER conference will be held Monday, June 9 – Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at the Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan. This carefully crafted program represents a comprehensive professional development opportunity for women in security this year. To view the full lineup at this year’s event, please visit securityleadher.org. Read Now

    • Industry Events
  • Report: 82 Percent of Phishing Emails Used AI

    KnowBe4, the world-renowned cybersecurity platform that comprehensively addresses human risk management, today launched its Phishing Threat Trend Report, detailing key trends, new data, and threat intelligence insights surrounding phishing threats targeting organizations at the start of 2025. Read Now

  • NRF Supports Federal Bill to Thwart Retail Crime

    The National Retail Federation recently announced its support for the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2025. The act was introduced by Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Representative Dave Joyce, R-Ohio. Read Now

  • ISC West 2025 Brings Almost 29,000 Industry Professionals to Las Vegas

    ISC West 2025, organized by RX and in collaboration with the Security Industry Association, concluded at the Venetian Expo in Las Vegas last week. The nation’s leading comprehensive and converged security event attracted nearly 29,000 industry professionals and left a lasting impression on the global security community. Over five action-packed days, ISC West welcomed more than 19,000 attendees and featured 750 exhibiting brands. Read Now

    • Industry Events
    • ISC West

New Products

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.”

  • PE80 Series

    PE80 Series by SARGENT / ED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin

    ASSA ABLOY, a global leader in access solutions, has announced the launch of two next generation exit devices from long-standing leaders in the premium exit device market: the PE80 Series by SARGENT and the PED4000/PED5000 Series by Corbin Russwin. These new exit devices boast industry-first features that are specifically designed to provide enhanced safety, security and convenience, setting new standards for exit solutions. The SARGENT PE80 and Corbin Russwin PED4000/PED5000 Series exit devices are engineered to meet the ever-evolving needs of modern buildings. Featuring the high strength, security and durability that ASSA ABLOY is known for, the new exit devices deliver several innovative, industry-first features in addition to elegant design finishes for every opening.

  • Mobile Safe Shield

    Mobile Safe Shield

    SafeWood Designs, Inc., a manufacturer of patented bullet resistant products, is excited to announce the launch of the Mobile Safe Shield. The Mobile Safe Shield is a moveable bullet resistant shield that provides protection in the event of an assailant and supplies cover in the event of an active shooter. With a heavy-duty steel frame, quality castor wheels, and bullet resistant core, the Mobile Safe Shield is a perfect addition to any guard station, security desks, courthouses, police stations, schools, office spaces and more. The Mobile Safe Shield is incredibly customizable. Bullet resistant materials are available in UL 752 Levels 1 through 8 and include glass, white board, tack board, veneer, and plastic laminate. Flexibility in bullet resistant materials allows for the Mobile Safe Shield to blend more with current interior décor for a seamless design aesthetic. Optional custom paint colors are also available for the steel frame.