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Law Enforcement
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Philadelphia invests $9 million in video surveillance system
Apr 11, 2008
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by Lisa Horan
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What value can be placed on the fight against crime? For the city of Philadelphia, try $9 million. That's how much the city recently spent for a state-of-the-art surveillance system that includes a high-tech video monitoring center and sophisticated cameras that are currently being installed throughout the city.
To spend that kind of money, you'd think crime had dramatically increased in the city, but according to Chief Inspector Michael Feeney of the Philadelphia Police Department, a crime surge wasn't what triggered the investment. In spite of a spike in violent crimes in 2006, the city had actually enjoyed a 17 percent decline in serious crimes over the last six years, and numbers had tapered further by the end of 2007.
"Violent crime in the city was actually down by eight percent in the city last year," said Feeney. "Our decision to invest in video surveillance technology was based on the success of similar programs in other cities like Baltimore, Newark, and Wilmington [DE]. After visiting each of the cities and finding out more about the technology, we believed it would be a viable resource for us and greatly benefit the city."
Philadelphia's voters agreed. In May 2006, the vast majority voted in favor of a pilot program that would permit the city to install 10 video surveillance cameras at four locations deemed "hot spots" by law enforcement.
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| Police officers currently on restricted duty have been monitoring the cameras, but officials plan to hire a dedicated staff this summer. |
By the end of the program period, police statistics indicated that reported crimes in eight of the locations where video cameras had been installed had decreased by eight percent. There was also a striking 37 percent decline in violent crimes in these same locations. In all, the technology has led to 87 arrests and prompted police to respond to 500 calls.
One such arrest involved the robbery of a Temple University graduate student last October. A camera that had been erected as part of the pilot program recorded a man being victimized by three suspects as he walked down the street.
"Because of his law enforcement experience, the officer monitoring the footage being captured by this camera immediately recognized that a crime was taking place, and he radioed a street officer that was in the vicinity," explained Feeney. "That officer was able to apprehend the three suspects and make an arrest right at the scene of the crime."
The success of the program prompted city officials to hire an outside contractor, Unisys, to install, integrate, and support an advanced network-enabled video surveillance system for the city. Unisys has handled similar video surveillance projects for other cities, including Minneapolis.
Flexible Solution
One of the greatest assets of the system, from a law enforcement perspective, is the real-time capability it offers. Video cameras capture footage, which is then sent via a dedicated, secured closed network through a data center located in the Mayor's Office of Information Services, and then onto a monitoring center located at police headquarters.
The data center serves as the system's central storage component and offers 100 TB of storage. The collected footage remains in the system for 30 days before being deleted. Eight servers support the system, as well as a video management software product by Cisco, which enables the footage to be viewed, stored, and archived.
Unisys personnel are continuously monitoring the status of the system. "We are able to examine the condition of every single component and make sure that each camera, each radio signal, and each high site is functioning properly and there is no lag in communication with the monitoring center," said Susan Thomas, partner, public safety solutions, Unisys.
Footage is viewed by police personnel at the monitoring center. Personnel can use a joystick to position the cameras to isolate specific details. "The cameras that we installed, which are Axis PTZ color cameras, have the ability to pan, tilt, zoom, and rotate," explained Thomas. The cameras can zoom in with clarity on objects as far away as three city blocks, she added.
Before any cameras can be installed, however, a number of critical steps are taken. First, specific locations must be identified by law enforcement. "Police know where they want to place cameras that will have the biggest impact on crime, so we go on what I call 'walkabouts' with sergeants and captains in each police district to determine where these locations are," said Thomas.
Next, a network aggregation point, or high site, must be selected to coincide with this location. Typically, the device is installed on the rooftop of a building or other tall structure. Each high site has the capacity to support a number of cameras. Currently, one high site has been installed for the system in the city. When the project is complete, a total of eight high sites and 250 cameras will be operational.
The final step is choosing pole assets to which cameras are attached. "Before we can install the cameras, we have to make sure that a pole can accommodate the equipment," said Thomas. "If it is occupied by another wireless device, typically for the Internet or by a public utility, then it is not a good candidate."
RF studies must be conducted to ensure strong signal strength, which will enable clear video. With the help of Alvarion wireless RF technology, video can be viewed at the monitoring center the instant that cameras and radio equipment have been installed.
Crime Prevention Plus
A large video wall and individual workstations at the video monitoring center in police headquarters display footage from the surveillance cameras. Manufactured by Vista, the wall is a giant matrix containing multiple screens that are monitored by police personnel. The PCs, which are connected to the network, serve as video screens for those who are monitoring the footage.
"The city pulled together resources from numerous departments to remodel the room and fit it out for the monitoring center," said Michaelle Cooke, program director for the city's video surveillance project. In addition to the video surveillance feeds from cameras in both the new and pilot systems and the feed from PennDOT (Pennsylvania Department of Transportation), the room also contains a Police Department computer-aided dispatch to view 911 calls that take place near the sites of the cameras.
Feeney said 10 officers who are currently on restricted duty because of injury, sickness, or pregnancy, have been assigned to screen footage, but he said a dedicated staff will be hired this summer. Once each of the 250 cameras has been installed, each staff member will be responsible for monitoring 30 cameras.
In addition to crime prevention, the cameras and monitoring center are being used to monitor traffic in the city, and can also be used for crowd control and homeland security purposes. In addition to a decal that links them to Philadelphia Police, a blue light signifies that cameras are on, and a heavy plastic dome protects them from the elements and tampering.
MORE INFO
Alvarion alvarion.com
Axis axis.com
Cisco Systems cisco.com
Dell dell.com
Vista Systems vistacontrol.com
Unisys unisys.com</a
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