CCTV

May 1, 1998 12:00 PM, AC&SSI Staff

Small-town America fights crime with ballistic domes

Murfreesboro, Tenn., isn't the kind of city you would expect to take high-tech action against crime. With a population of 52,000, it is a small college town 45 minutes south of Nashville. But as one of the state's fastest-growing locales, Murfreesboro is seeing an influx of businesses and people.

"As the town grows, the more crime we have," says Captain Roy Fields, a 20-year veteran of the town's police department.

Crime is particularly concentrated around two of the town's public housing complexes, where the city is fighting back by installing outdoor security cameras protected by ballistic dome housings from Videolarm, Atlanta. The domes are made of spun aluminum alloy, and the cameras are enclosed by a second dome made of bullet-resistant plastic and heavy-gauge steel.

"We knew we couldn't install surveillance equipment with regular housings," Field says. "We've had problems with street lights being shot out and thought we'd have the same problem with cameras."

Prior to installing the surveillance system, "We seemed to be throwing money down a rat hole, because nothing was making significant improvements," says Patsy Noland, housing authority executive director. "But the cameras will make a big difference."

"A resident reported that his car had been stolen in the middle of the night," Fields recalls. "But when we looked at the video, we discovered the car had actually been repossessed."

The system also allows the housing authority to more effectively enforce its rules and regulations.

"The first week the cameras were installed, I was able to prove that one lady in an apartment was letting 15 people who had been evicted live in her unit," Noland says, adding that the people evicted are typically the ones dealing drugs. "They use the apartments as crack houses."

The housing complexes have about 200 apartments. The city's police department uses one unit in each complex as a monitoring site and police sub-station.

Environmental housings, constructed of aluminum and featuring Lexan windows, are new from Vicon Industries, Hauppauge, N.Y. The housings, models V8312H and V8317H, are easy to install and service, according to Vicon. The V8312H is available as a basic housing or with a 24v AC thermostatically controlled heater and sunshield. It accommodates a maximum camera/lens length of 9 inches. The 8317H features a sunshield and blower, and, in some versions, a heater. It accommodates a maximum camera/lens length of 12 inches. A 24v AC transformer is provided for the 120v and 230v AC versions to power the camera.

The QD142 black-and-white quad processor features basic quad functions at an economical price, according to maker DeltaVision, St-Eustache, Quebec, Canada. The QD142 allows viewing of four cameras on a single monitor and allows any one camera to be called up manually on full screen. It also features individual input gain control and resolution of 512x512.

Qnet, a network-enabled, multi-user, multi-tasking client/server system for real-time digital video transmission, has been enhanced with QUIC/net (quic user interface controller) for added graphic capability, including interactive floor and map graphics and icons. QUIC/net eliminates complicated response procedures, says manufacturer Javelin Systems, Torrance, Calif.

Two plug-and-play remote video surveillance units enable users to access a video surveillance system through a desktop or notebook PC and see up to 16 cameras live anywhere in the world. From Baraka Intracom, Torrance, Calif., the small-business/home model ViewWatch supports up to four cameras. The business model, EyeWatch, enables remote viewing of up to 16 cameras. Included with the Windows-compatible units are a built-in 56k modem, a power cable, telephone connection, software, keypad, and camera and alarm relays.

Digital Detective, an integrated digital video time-lapse recorder system, monitors up to four cameras. Manufactured by Digital Processing Systems, Florence, Ky., the system combines intelligent digital video technology with motion detection, multiplexing and text insertion, as well as remote access. Video, audio and text data are recorded onto hard drives, allowing non-linear search of information. Proprietary image authentication, using Private Key technology, safeguards against image tampering. Embedded proprietary software eliminates the threat of viruses and the need for expensive software upgrades, according to the company.

SkoutNet video transmission units for local and wide-area networks send video images at an average of 12 frames per second across TCP/IP networks to standard Intel Pentium Microsoft Windows 95 PCs. New from Shepherd Surveillance, Manchester, N.H., the units enable point-to-point video monitoring over 10BaseT and 100BaseT networks. Up to 30 cameras can be connected to a SkoutNet, and an unlimited number of transmitters can be accessed from a PC on the network, says Shepherd. SkoutNets are preinstalled with Shepherd's Win95 Remote Surveillance Manager software.

A video tape dispenser from Winsted Corp., Minneapolis, stores a month's worth of surveillance tapes in daily order and provides a way to rotate and retrieve tapes day to day. The dispenser, model 70503, stacks and stores up to 31 VHS cassettes. It can be attached to a wall and measures 43 5/8 x 10 1/4 x 7 inches. A front-locking door swings open to allow access to tapes.

A small DSP color video camera, model QSN301D, can be installed unobtrusively in interior environments and mobile applications, according to manufacturer Elmo Manufacturing Corp., New Hyde Park, N.Y. The unit measures 1.97x1.18x2.95 inches and weighs 2.6 ounces. Incorporating a 1/4-inch CCD, the camera delivers 512(H)x492(V) pixels with more than 330(H) TV lines of resolution. Other features include backlight compensation, auto white balance and a built-in 3.8mm lens.

A miniature varifocal lens is designed for use with new lipstick color cameras from Elmo, Sony, Tokyo Electron and Toshiba with high-resolution 1/3-inch CCD imager built in, says the lens manufacturer Tamron Bronica, Farmingdale, N.Y. The barrel diameter stands at 0.5 inches with a length of 1.4 inches. The lens comes with a manual iris control with an aperture range of F/3.0 to close and allows a minimum object distace of 7.9 inches, making it versatile, says the maker.

The American Dynamics AD168 matrix switcher/controller system integrates high-end features of large systems in a system for mid-size applications, says Sensormatic Electronics Corp., Boca Raton, Fla. The AD168 is a modular, high-density system of surface-mount design, configurable to 168 video inputs and 24 video outputs. Bi-directional communications architecture and new video architecture allow video loss detection and code distribution.

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