Theme Parks Go High-Tech With Surveillance, Security

Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM

           

A security expert speaking at the recent National Fire Prevention Association conference in Orlando said new computer software, paired with video cameras mounted throughout theme parks, is enabling security professionals to monitor visitors' movements.

“You no longer have dumb cameras looking at the same scene and waiting for a human being to move,” said Lauris Freidenfelds, vice president of consulting services with Sako and Associates. “We can now actually use software to track an individual through a theme park.”

According to the Orlando Sentinel, Freidenfelds said that computers can turn an array of conventional security cameras into a sophisticated tracking system, allowing theme-park workers to keep track of someone acting suspiciously.

Theme parks pose unique security problems, Freidenfelds said. Power outages can strand people inside or on top of rides. Loud noises and simulated explosions can make communicating with visitors a daunting task.

Freidenfelds said quick communications with visitors can be essential, and evacuation plans need to be updated and tested frequently.

“A theme-park attack is something a terrorist would look at,” he said. “We need crowd controls, evacuation paths and emergency plans that need to be exercised frequently.”

But new security technology can do more than keep an eye on suspicious people and ready theme parks for catastrophes. Freidenfelds said one new device — a GPS bracelet for children — promises to assuage the fear of losing one's offspring in a crowd, the newspaper reports. Using a GPS tracking system, theme parks can quickly locate children that walk away from their parents.

Freidenfelds said theme-park security departments have a role beyond crime prevention.

“Theme-park security directors need to realize that it is a public-safety issue and not just about crime prevention,” he said.

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