PROACTIVE AVOIDANCE

Jul 1, 2002 12:00 PM

Calgary International Airport is the gateway to Western Canada, Banff and the Canadian Rockies. It is categorized as a “Level I Airport” by Transport Canada, which means it handles more than one million passengers each year. As Calgary continues to grow in the oil and gas industry and as a major player in warehousing, distribution and food processing, the airport strives to keep up with the times.

Calgary International's air traffic control tower is equipped with state-of-the-art electronic systems, and its terminal building is secured by the newest technologies.

Sept. 11 has raised the bar for all airport security measures, and Calgary International began using a combination of hardware and software tools from Loronix Information Systems, Durango, Calif., to counter baggage theft, address security screening checkpoint issues and improve general surveillance. Phase I of a four-phase installation took place in 2000 and 2001. The Loronix digital video system brings improved recording resolution, system supervision, real-time and time-lapse recording and image export capabilities to the project.

Jim Edwards, Calgary's security manager, says the airport chose the Loronix system based on several factors, most importantly ease-of-use and monitoring capabilities. “Being able to access all of the cameras in our facility from one PC has been a great productivity tool for my department,” Edwards says.

Ross & Baruzzini, a Webster Groves, Md.-based architecture, engineering, design and construction firm, consulted for the Calgary project. Rick Thomason, senior project engineer/consultant for the firm, explains the importance of choosing systems for similar applications. “Get the highest resolution digital recording you can afford because resolution is important for playback of incidents that are recorded,” he says. “Purchase a system that provides supervision of all components against failure.”

In use throughout the airport's four concourses, including immigration checkpoints and baggage areas, the Loronix system has netted the arrest of drug smugglers and other criminals and has been used for investigative purposes. “At an airport, we find that cameras are a major deterrent — especially when people realize this technology is not just a ‘reactive investigative’ tool, but a ‘proactive avoidance’ tool,” says David A. Tynan, vice president of marketing and sales for Loronix.

In response to the events of Sept. 11, Canadian authorities have taken actions similar to those in the U.S. concerning commercial air travel. “Over the past few months, our world has changed immeasurably as a result of the terrorist attacks in the United States,” said David Collenette, Canadian Minister of Transport. “The tragic events of that day have put public security at the top of Canadians' priority list.”

Calgary International has already boosted the Loronix system installation project from 400 cameras to approximately 600 cameras.

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Loronix	20
Ross & Baruzzini	21

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