Access Control Takes Center Stage At The Academy Awards

Feb 1, 2003 12:00 PM, by JENNIFER PERO

For 75 years, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has recognized filmmaking excellence, bringing together the entertainment community and fans around the world. On Oscar night, when Hollywood's biggest and brightest stars stroll down the red carpet, security technology will also take the spotlight.

The Oscars are an exclusive ceremony. Attendance is by invitation only, but with tens of thousands of people gathered outside the Kodak Theater, access control is a highly-sensitive issue. From celebrities and producers to crew members and press — identifying who has legitimate access in a crowd of unauthorized attendees is critical. “In terms of security, the Academy's main priority is the safety of our guests,” says AMPAS President Frank Pierson.

Security prepares for nearly 11,000 authorized attendees, although the Academy expects to see only 6,000 to 10,000. To keep security from being lost in the shuffle, the Academy relies on an access control system fool-proof enough to keep celebrities safe, but flexible enough to provide authorized event staff the ability to move quickly throughout entry and exit points. To keep the event running like clockwork without jeopardizing safety, AMPAS turned to Security Solutions, Los Alamitos, Calif., a systems integrator.

“The Oscars requires a unique security system,” says Tim DeWeese, president and CEO of Security Solutions. “AMPAS needs to get thousands of people through the doors in a very short period of time, while keeping tens of thousands of spectators at bay. It all must be done in a respectful and orderly way.”

Security Solutions developed an access control credentialing system customized specifically for the Academy's needs and based on a specific identification process.

As part of the overall security framework, attendees and staff are required to wear an ID card, issued in advance of the event, that includes embedded high-tech features to facilitate visual screening and identification. For a system that allows security personnel to customize their data and authorization requirements for a select group of users, Security Solutions relies on Texas Instruments' RFID division (TI-RFid), Dallas, for its radio frequency identification technology.

TI-RFid's smart label product, Tag-it, is a 13.56 MHz smart label inlay, embedded in the supplier's vicinity cards and badges. The cards and badges carry 2,000 bits of memory for on-the-card programming — a necessity when badging for various access levels. A factory-programmed ID code prevents forgery or duplication of the card, providing the assurance that no two cards — or people — will be misidentified. With on-site programmability, additional data such as time stamps or new identification and access codes can be created in just a few seconds.

For reader technology compatible with its RFID cards, TI used its S6400 series readers to allow interoperability across all systems. Data can be read and written to cards automatically, without having to issue new badges or cards each time information is changed. Should information such as access levels, dates and times need to be updated, cards and readers were integrated with C-Cure 800 software from Software House, Lexington, Mass., a division of Tyco Fire and Security.

The C-Cure 800 software allows security personnel to call up an attendee's name, picture and credentials prior to issuing a badge, or to verify a current badge holder. Because the software can be integrated with the cards and readers, it is easy to identify a counterfeit badge. If a badge is fake, for instance, the attendee's picture will not show up on the screen.

“For a cardholder database, we chose the C-Cure 800 software which allowed us a database that can be customized specifically for the Academy's needs,” says DeWeese. Although the majority of badges are pre-issued, multiple badging stations are in place for credentialing. Security Solutions reserves various tents for specific badging needs. The main tent, for example, houses 10 photo stations, two check-in computers and three data entry computers.

“As attendees arrive who aren't already badged, we can pull up their name, find their access levels and photograph them,” DeWeese says. “Then we put the blank credential in the printers, print out the picture and laminate it. Before exiting, the attendee goes through a verification station to ensure the credential is authenticated.”

Security Solutions uses Epson printers that provide a straight photo path while printing photographs onto the card, thus keeping the image accurate. For additional layers of security, special ink licensed to Security Solutions by printer supplier CCL Label, Monrovia, Calif., is used to authenticate the printing and to identify counterfeit badges. While embedded technology allows cards to be authenticated via a reader, the special ink has other features and proprietary details that enable security personnel to quickly make visual comparisons of cardholders and photographs, making it possible to detect fake credentials easily, even in the event of a power failure.

Security Solutions has a flawless success rate in protecting the perimeter of the Kodak Theater on Oscar night. Since its partnership with the Academy Awards two years ago, there have been no known counterfeit cards successfully used to gain entrance into the Oscars. But the company doesn't take full credit for the success, as it relies heavily on security personnel — AMPAS supplies its own guard force staff and elects its own security chief to coordinate all police, fire, traffic control and private security activities associated with the awards ceremony.

“It's really a blend of security and manpower,” DeWeese says, that keeps the event safe and successful.

For the Record

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jennifer Pero is assistant editor of Access Control & Security Systems.

ABOUT THE COMPANIES

Circle the Reader Service number or visit securitysolutions.com

CCL Label	25
Security Solutions	26
Software House	27
Texas Instruments	28

Want to use this article? Click here for options!
© 2012 Penton Media Inc.

This month in Access Control

• Targeting The Customer
• Electronic Pedigrees
• One Hero Among Many
• Who? What? When? Where? Why?
• More from September's issue