Security Cameras for Public Utilities Company

Two basic aspects of modern American life that many take for granted as expected requirements are electricity and water. Americans consume more than1 billion glasses of tap water and use close to 10 billion kilowatt hours of electricity on a daily basis. The enormity of the nation's dependence on water and electricity are clearly demonstrated by these staggering numbers statistics.

On both the popular media and the evening news disruptions to water and electricity are evident. In fact the dramatic true story of how a town's Chromium 6-laced water caused ill heath effects and ended in a more than three hundred million legal settlement was presented in a popular Hollywood movie just a few years ago. But when we return back to reality, the US Energy Department tells us that in the one-day blackout which struck the northeastern part of North America on August 2003 came with a price tag of six billion US dollars.

Department of Homeland Security has categorized water and energy as critical infrastructures, and has been also designated for major initiatives especially since the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Consequently, utility companies across the nation are placing security high on their list of critical issues. Coordination with FBI and other Anti-terrorist governmental security bodies has renovated emergency response plans, physical security upgrades and susceptibility assessments have now become a part of everyday routines in the administration of critical infrastructure locations.

As a result, when the Department of Public Utilities for a major U.S. city addresses the topic of security, the companies pay close attention. The department had very serious security concerns, especially due to the far-reaching responsibility for water and power for approximately half a million individuals. The department implemented site upgrades that strengthened access control and surveillance in order to comply with DHS protocols. With some upgrades reaching 60 acres in size, the security upgrade process was clearly a very large-scale and ambitious project that covers dozens of premises.

According to a systems integrator from Paladin Protective Systems who working with the department the development will utilize state-of-the-art technology on, both, the hardware and software aspect, this specific project will be physically complex and technically challenging due to the sheer size and scope of it.

The department also was concerned about protecting its assets from smaller malicious acts such as robbery and vandalism, even though mitigating the risk of a terrorist attack is the underlying directive from the DHS.

In order to provide overview and interrogative surveillance capability the surveillance upgrade included the installation of PTZ speed domes and fixed cameras. Infrared illumination was integrated in the majority of these cameras, this enabled effective surveillance images to be captured on a 24/7 basis, even under pitch dark conditions.

According to the president and CEO of Extreme CCTV, they were noticing a growing demand for night time capability features at numerous critical infrastructure projects all around the globe.  Not to mention that the need to see effectively at night has driven a growing reliance on night vision technologies for vital surveillance interfaces."

Active-Infrared Supplementation

Lying in the wavelength region of 700 to 1,000 nanometers, the Active-infrared illumination is light is invisible to the unequipped eyes of humans. Other night vision technologies such as thermal imaging and intensified CCDs, are both passive systems, however he term "active" is not quite the same as them. Illuminators are being utilized by Active-infrared systems actively create light so that the infrared-sensitive cameras can form unambiguous, high-resolution footage, even in total pitch dark conditions. Active-infrared CCD technology uses the same materials, due to the fact that it is based on core technology created in the consumer camera market, which makes it a very cost-effective night vision solution capable of high-resolution footage capture.

The department intended on using visible illumination, but elected active-infrared on the basis of price.

Installing poles, Trenching, cabling, and running high-voltage power out to the camera locations would have easily devastated their financial plans" the infrared illuminators was definitely a more cost-effective alternative.

Without mentioning the price, the IR illuminators were particularly made for CCTV purposes, as opposed to general purpose streetlights that often deceive conventional cameras by producing hot spots and darker shadow regions.

Detecting motion with Motion Detection

Security footage is conveyed not only into DVRs, but also into video motion detection (VMD) components set up to examine an image for pixel alternations. The investment of the department into the additional layer of intelligence in VMD symbolizes a growing concern within the security industry. This concern revolves around the fact that the increase in security camera deployment places a heavier responsibility on those charged with observing the cameras throughput. According to a very interesting study performed by an Australian firm almost immediately after twelve minutes of continuous video monitoring, an observer will often miss up to forty-five percent of the actions in the view. After twenty minutes of viewing, more than ninety percent is gone unnoticed.

By supplementing conventional monitoring with algorithm-based monitoring VMD and other video analytic software are capable of addressing these concerns. The basic principle of VMD usually entails algorithms that examine footage for pixel alterations, the program responds with alarms, alerts or any number of other responses as soon as it detects pixel changes. In consequence, VMD can act as a virtual blockade sending an alarm when pixel changes (i.e. motion) are detected at the instant that the virtual barricade is broken.

In conformity with the well-known "data-in, data-out" theory of computing, any video-based technology works only if the video footage provides good quality information. When choosing active infrared for the security upgrade process, the department ensured that the back-end intelligent processing of the surveillance system will operate not only during the day, but also at night and dim light conditions. As a result, the VMD module can operate around the clock, under any light settings, including total pitch black environments.

The department's dedicated networks allow real-time remote viewing of the surveillance images from all sites. As a result, the law enforcement officials at the central monitoring facility can instantly monitor events at the various utility properties across town as a live broadcast. In addition to that, the police officers also will be monitoring their local site from within the guard house, keeping a watchful eye on various alarm points in live settings. On top of the dedicated on-site supervision, the whole system can be observed and managed from one central command center to guarantee a total and precise examination.

According to the system integration manager the system can further be set up so that lower-level security breaches stay at the bottom of the reaction hierarchy. When serious security breaches occur, the system can instantly initiate top-level reactions, including officer command scripts that tell the utility police officer precisely how to respond to the situation as it unfolds on their security screens.

The combined usage of these of all of these highly advanced security technologies has greatly advanced the security interface of the facility and greatly restricted the attack points available to potential thieves and terrorist. Although the price of these systems might be great, the benefits are even greater, in fact, over the long run all of these systems will easily pay for their own prices over and over again by preventing attacks and damage to property or individuals.

PTZ speed domes and fixed cameras. Infrared illumination surveillance CCTV Active-infrared CCD night vision thermal imaging intensified CCD VMD DVR video analytic software monitoring alarm