AST Digital Magazine May 2016 | Page 5

Volume 4
May 2016 Edition include Shoreview , Farmington , Brooklyn Center , Minnetonka , Maple Grove , B r o o k l y n Park , Edina and Minneapolis . In addition , the Minnesota Department of Transportation ( MNDOT ), Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development , and the Minneapolis Convention Center are included within this Minneapolis “ Ring of Protection .”
PROTECTING ASSETS With a full fiber network connecting most of Brooklyn Center ’ s government buildings , IT Director Patty Hartwig looked to take advantage of the technology opportunities available . Prior to the fiber network , many of the city ’ s buildings either had no video surveillance or used standalone analog surveillance systems . The fiber network allowed for a cost effective video surveillance solution , including one shared location for storage . A flexible solution was required to manage the diverse needs of the city . In addition to general government operations , Brooklyn Center owns and operates a convention center , two liquor stores and a golf course . All business units are now networked with the video solution . Additionally , administrators in the police department , general government facilities and two of the four schools in the district — an elementary and high school — are also integrated into the video system . “ Ease of use was extremely important when deciding on our VMS installation ,” said Hartwig . “ We did our research looking for user-friendly , adaptable and easy-to-modify solutions . Our system needed to play back and pull up video in an instant . We put an extreme value on the VMS protecting our city assets , so we required a product that would be here today , tomorrow and in the future .” This city ’ s 90-plus cameras are positioned in six buildings , and expansion added more than 70 cameras in 2014 . Milestone Mobile is also deployed on tablets and smartphones for the eight administrators on the system to access the video from smartphones and tablets . Brooklyn Center integrated the point-of-sale systems at its liquor stores with a software module that brings up video associated with register transactions to monitor and document what happens during a sale . The integration provides a time-synchronized interface linking receipt data together with corresponding video , extending the monitoring of operations to include actual cash register data . This allows the city to identify problems involving POS and credit cards to reduce shrinkage and fraud , providing a safer shopping environment .
POLICE FORCE PROTECTION AND SOCIAL MEDIA HELP The legacy analog VHS systems installed throughout the city of Farmington were not only time-consuming to view and monitor , but extremely difficult to work with if an event occurred at government facilities , including two city-owned liquor stores . There was no communication between the disparate systems — a completely inefficient means of surveillance . With a new city hall , one of the first steps for improving the protection of citizens included developing a citywide monitoring solution to unify surveillance processing , fully supported by the fiber network across the city . For its scalability and future-proof technology , the VMS was integrated into Farmington ’ s government agencies in five buildings to help support the police . “ It ’ s easy to identify the hard costs of a project of this magnitude ,” said Farmington Police Sargent Jim Constantineau . “ But for the long run , we asked how much money will this system save us . We can efficiently access video for investigations from anywhere with an Internet connection , saving time and allowing our officers to be more productive during their shifts . Retrieving stolen property or knowing what happens in an accident has improved our response and the costs of running the city . We expect the system to continue to provide us with great value as we scale up .” In addition to monitoring for safety in its liquor stores and senior centers , Farmington relies on the VMS to provide high-definition screen shots of accused criminals and posts them to social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter . “ We haven ’ t publicized the surveillance system yet , but we do rely on the publicity and leads on criminals generated from social media to help us even further in solving criminal acts ,” Constantineau said .
PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUES IMPROVED QUICKLY The City of Edina was looking for more expandability when making its transition from analog to digital , wanting more cameras without adding more expensive analog converters to its inventory . The surveillance cameras deployed throughout the township are mainly used for simple security monitoring and general safety over the fiber network . “ The process of installing the VMS was very simple ; the interface is easy to use and very straightforward ,” states Nick Lovejoy , an IT specialist with the City of Edina . “ It ’ s evident in our
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