Monitoring The Halls

Sep 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Carol Carey

IN RECENT YEARS, safety and security issues have been front and center at many of the nation's colleges and universities. Security issues are magnified when tragedy strikes on campus. Rare events such as the murder of a student on or near campus can send shock waves throughout the country.

Such was the case when murder claimed the lives of two University of North Carolina (UNC) at Wilmington students in 2004. In an effort to be proactive and to reduce the likelihood of such an incident occurring at its campus, East Carolina University (ECU) in Greenville, part of the UNC system, upgraded both its electronic security and safety education programs.

ECU has a total enrollment of nearly 23,000, with about 5,300 students living in 15 campus-run residence halls. There are approximately 4,000 staff and faculty. The campus spans almost 1,400 acres and is divided into three areas — the main campus, with academic, research and residential space; the Health Sciences Campus, which includes the Brody School of Medicine; and the West Research Campus, which includes administrative and support buildings as well as additional School of Medicine facilities. There is also the 745-bed Pitt County Memorial Hospital.

Security had been strong at ECU before upgrades in 2004 and 2005 made it even stronger. Then, as now, a full-service police department is on constant alert. Presently consisting of more than 50 certified officers, 10 telecommunicators (who operate the security monitors and perform dispatching functions) and seven full-time support service personnel; the police department has a foot patrol, vehicle patrol, bicycle patrol and investigations and extra event scheduling teams.

A video surveillance system was already in place that focused on parking lots and the pool area of Minges Coliseum. The upgrade has added video surveillance to the residence halls, with the pre-existing cameras combined into the new system.

Captain J.P. Smith of the ECU Police Department now heads the new Department of Campus Safety (DCS) as director. Sergeant Amy Davis is the crime prevention specialist, educating students, faculty and staff in safety and crime prevention techniques.

Annette Parker is the DCS administrative assistant. Parker also functions as a technical specialist overseeing the network of surveillance cameras covering the residence halls and parking lots. Parker makes recommendations as to the type of cameras needed for particular purposes and their placement.

Video surveillance expands

As part of its proactive approach, ECU decided to upgrade its electronic security. A system of 105 new video cameras was installed in the summer of 2004 at the residence halls. Most of the cameras are Panasonic WV-CW474S day/night color fixed cameras, which have been placed just inside each resident hall building. “The camera picks you up once you enter,” Parker says.

According to Barry Allen, president, Allen Security of Wendell, N.C., the cameras' low-light capability provides a superior picture in dim-and low-light situations.

“We used Panasonic's Super Dynamic II (SDII) wide dynamic range cameras,” says Allen, the installer/integrator for the video system installation, “They also have back-light compensation. Most college residence hall entrances have glass doors, which create a dark image with bright background, which otherwise would obscure or prevent identification.”

Seven Panasonic cameras have been placed at exteriors of residence halls, most of them pan/tilt/zoom WV-CW864A. “These cameras cover parking lots and areas in which there are bicycle racks,” Smith says. “We have students walking through these areas at all times, and we wanted to be proactive regarding their personal safety. Bicycles are at risk; they can be an object of larceny. There has been some car-related theft and vandalism, and parking decals have also become an ‘item of choice.’”

The camera system also uses seven Panasonic WJ-HD316 digital video recorders (DVRs), each with 1.5 terabytes of storage. Video data is transmitted across a fiber-optic network and then routed through coaxial cable to a video distribution amplifier. From there it is sent to the DVRs and the Pelco 9670 matrix switcher. The video data is then viewed by telecommunicators operating three 20-inch monitors and two 42-inch Panasonic monitors at the police department's telecommunications center, Parker says. Another 42-inch monitor will be added soon.

“The switcher allows the monitors to pick up any camera point individually,” Parker says. “We have dedicated one monitor for viewing trouble spots. There are about three others to which the recorders are dedicated.”

“To add an extra set of eyes for the cameras, we are setting up additional Neighborhood Service Officer (NSO) offices, which will be able to monitor the residence halls in their section of campus,” Smith says. “These offices are staffed by students and regular staff. We already have two of these, one on the West Side of campus, one on the East or College Hill side. The offices are open until 2 a.m. and are available for students in emergencies.”

Cameras for crime prevention

One area of concern for campus police and security personnel is downtown Greenville, which borders the west side of ECU's campus. “We have an open campus, and people who don't have our best interests in mind sometimes wander onto campus from downtown,” Smith says.

“We have a brand new dining facility on the west end of campus with a large outdoor mall area surrounding it and several residence areas nearby. We will be adding six additional surveillance cameras at this area.” The new cameras, like those installed in 2004, will be Panasonic WV-CW474S fixed and WV-CW864A pan/tilt/zoom. Smith adds that current plans are for an NSO office to monitor these cameras.

Existing cameras have already been successful in helping fight crime. “We had an armed robbery downtown in one of our parking lots,” Smith says. “Six men accosted a student. The event was captured on camera as it occurred, and our police department responded immediately. The robbery failed.

“We have foiled or responded immediately to several other incidents. We have been fortunate in terms of making arrests immediately after incidents, which we attribute primarily to cameras being present. We have made arrests during break-ins of residence halls. In one case, a man rammed himself through a plate-glass door. A camera picked this up, and we responded immediately. Cameras have also picked up and allowed us to respond to drug users.”

Fiber-optic architecture

A specially designed fiber-optic architecture has ensured maximum efficiency of the video surveillance system. Allen, along with Ed Miskovic, vice president for sales and marketing for Meridian Technologies, Elmont, N.Y. designed the system using two dedicated fibers on ECU's network.

“We had a large number of video signals to transmit from one location to another, and a small number of fibers with which to accomplish this,” Miskovic says. “We had only two fibers available to us that could be dedicated for this security system. We use one of these fibers to transmit pan/tilt/zoom control data and network diagnostics. The second fiber transmits video data from the cameras.

“To transmit this data, we are using Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing (CWDM) technology. This technology involves sending video signals over different wavelengths, which are then combined by an optical multiplexer onto one single-mode fiber and transmitted to a central data area.”

At ECU, groups of up to eight residence halls are assigned to a single “node” location. Each residence hall transmits its video signals (from up to eight cameras each) at a different wavelength to this location. At the node location, the different wavelengths are combined by the optical multiplexer box module. They are then sent to the Telecommunications Center over one single-mode fiber. ECU currently has about five node locations it is using; each location controls between two and five buildings.

“Without the CWDM technology, you would not be able to transmit more than eight video signals over one single-mode fiber. With the technology, you can transmit up to 64 signals over a single fiber,” Miskovic says.

Meridian's DigiFlex products were chosen for the system, according to Miskovic, who says the products “have excellent versatility and signal flexibility.”

At the Telecommunications Center, the video is connected to an optical de-multiplexer, which separates the wavelengths. The output of each of these wavelengths then goes to an eight-channel receiver and then to a video distribution amplifier. From the amplifier, data is sent to DVRs and to the Pelco matrix switcher, Miskovic says.

Further safety measures

Residence halls are locked at all times, Smith says. A Best Access Systems key lock system is used. Call boxes outside the residence hall doors are used by visitors who wish to gain access. Other security measures at ECU include an extensive system of approximately 78 blue lights and call boxes by Gai-Tronics. Some buildings, in addition, are protected by a Siemens access control system. These include main campus administrative buildings, the School of Medicine and the new Science and Technology building.

A strong focus of the Department of Campus Safety will be education. “After the UNC-Wilmington incidents, we decided to be proactive in educating students, staff and faculty on safety,” says Smith, citing the formation of the new Department of Campus Safety this past spring. “It will focus on crime prevention through a series of safety workshops and forums.”

With its combination of enhanced safety measures, regional safety centers and state-of-the art electronic security, ECU has established a strong proactive approach to campus safety that can take it well into the future.

ABOUT THE COMPANIES

For information, circle the Reader Service number (listed below) or visit securitysolutions.com

Best Access Systems	55
Gai-Tronics	56
Meridian Technologies	57
Panasonic	58
Pelco	59
Siemens	60

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