When the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Police Department decided to obtain a new central dispatch facility, they also realised it was time to make some changes to their CCTV. "We were fragmented," says Frederick Gardy, Assistant Police Chief for the University. "Each individual college and department was purchasing its own CCTV equipment and there was not one purchasing standard."
In 2003, the university began the process of reviewing different manufacturers. "We formed a committee from various operating units within the University who had already installed CCTV or would be installing CCTV," Frederick Gardy added. "We reviewed the manufacturers and decided we liked the Vicon equipment."
Probably the biggest benefit to the Vicon system, from the University police point of view, was the video quality. "We were very concerned about the need to be able to prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt and for us to create a standard," said Mr Gardy. "It's called the CSI effect. In this day and age you need to show good video, otherwise you are not going to get that conviction."
Once the University decided to go with Vicon, they needed to choose a system integrator. Their choice was Fastek International. "We at Fastek are a non-traditional CCTV provider," says Stanley Scheiding, Manager of security sales and service for Fastek. "We don't have vans, trucks and ladders, and installers. We hire and train local electrical contractors to pull the cable and we install the equipment and configure it."
One stop shop at Vicon
The University had a plethora of systems. Each was an island because the police had to go to the respective buildings to see anything. "The University wanted a means of bringing all of the video back to a central location and as we progress, making it more intelligent in linking it to door contacts and other software," said Stanley Scheiding.
With Vicon, Fastek found a manufacturer that could provide a "one stop shop" for all of the University's CCTV requirements. "We can choose from the full range of Vicon's DVRs depending on for example whether there is a need to control pan, tilt and zoom cameras. We are also using just about all of Vicon's cameras. "
Policies, procedures and planning
With approximately 400 cameras currently up on the system and significantly more to be installed in the future, the decision has been made to single source from Vicon.
Return on investment
"One of the nice things about the Vicon system is that, with so many systems already in use, everybody is still able to accomplish what their main goals for using CCTV are, without compromising any of the concerns," says Owen Yardley, Police Chief at the University. "It's the flexibility of it. Everyone had different uses for the system, but by standardising, they didn't lose any objectives they were trying to meet."
In fact, in some cases, the university has been able to meet objectives they didn't anticipate - and save time and money in the process.
Their first objective, of course, was evidentiary. "A system is only as good as the evidence you present in court," Mr.Gardy says. "Our thinking was if we had a system that couldn't help us win convictions, even if it cost less money, it's not a savings in the long run."
The University has successfully used the Vicon system to make arrests and prosecuting crimes. "We wanted to move from a system where everything was done historically, to a system that gives us real time opportunity to prevent crime or address it while it is occurring," Owen Yardley adds. "With Vicon, our dispatch is able to view them all."
Another unforeseen benefit is the wider range of applications the system can now be used for. "We've changed pedestrian and vehicular traffic around on game days, using images from the cameras," Mr.Gardy says. "We've been able to make arguments for changing traffic patterns by reviewing gate traffic flow using the system. We're trying hard not to make this a security-only application. We want to be able to see a greater return on investment by finding other ways to utilise CCTV."
Owen Yardley agrees. "Now we can do the traffic monitoring for vehicles and pedestrians; we can check on construction sites, check on events that are going on, and do remote patrolling of parking facilities, all from one location. It's like having extra officers available."
