Phoenix Police Secure Tri-City National Sporting Events with Open Platform Video Management Software
Cross-City Challenge
The Phoenix Police Department was tasked with creating a security solution
for two major national sports events taking place in early February 2015. The
solution required coordination with multiple cities and government agencies.
These sporting events drew more than half a million people into the Phoenix/
Glendale/Scottsdale area. A flexible solution was needed for this combined
effort to manage the crowds, minimize incidents and keep attendees safe.
Connected Video Solution
Working with a grant from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and
other funding sources, Jason Tyre, a member of the Phoenix Police Department,
Homeland Defense Bureau and Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center
(ACTIC), headed up a team that devised a comprehensive security solution
.
Milestone XProtect video management software (VMS) was at the heart
of the operation and different versions of the VMS were already deployed
at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, the Glendale Civic Center,
and connected to various camera systems in parts of Phoenix, Glendale and
Scottsdale.
Tyre and his team based operations at the multi-agency coordination center
(MACC), a dedicated command central where his team monitored cameras,
sharing information with federal authorities, transit officials, city and county
police, fire departments and other security officials. Tyre and his team used
the camera feeds to enhance each agency’s situational awareness and provide
real time information to managers that allowed them to make better decisions
to mitigate and manage incidents. There was a dedicated network fiber
path between Phoenix, Glendale and Scottsdale, which Tyre and Phoenix
PD Sergeant Anthony Jones cite as a critical factor in facilitating the flow of
information among the cities and agencies.
Open Platform Puts All Camera Choices in Play
In deciding on a software platform, the Phoenix Police Department put
flexibility at a premium. In devising this comprehensive security solution, the
police department would be working with a variety of camera vendors, so
Milestone’s ability to integrate with the widest choice of device brands and
models was a critical factor.
“We buy cameras based on cost, functionality and warranty,” Tyre said. “The
airport, civic center and other locations were all using different cameras, so we
needed to feel confident that they would all integrate into the unified software
system without any hassle.”
Mobile Web Access Help Centralize Security Ops
The Phoenix Police Department purchased a pilot test license for Milestone
Interconnect to connect the disparate Milestone systems and cameras and
pipe them all into the MACC. Tyre said Milestone was able to recognize that the
police department, airport and civic center were running older versions of the
software that did not support Milestone Interconnect and quickly rectified the
situation for the final installation.
According to Sergeant Anthony Jones, a critical piece of the operation was the
ability to use web applications on a mobile server.
“This feature of Milestone was enormously helpful,” Jones said. “We could push
video places so you could login on a mobile server instead of a client. We never
had to install applications on a third-party computer. We just used an external IP
address, which meant we never had to give up our login information.”
Each municipality had its own command post, with numerous people working
during each shift. The command posts were able to effectively communicate
with security managers on the ground to help respond immediately to
incidents.
“The men and women at each command post could do the job of a whole
bunch of people on the ground,” Tyre said. “We tracked all sorts of incidents
downtown, and provided our people with real-time info on exactly the best
course to mitigate a situation. With this allocation of resources, we were able
to locate individuals and assess things quickly and effectively through the
Milestone interface to the cameras.”
Tyre and his team also had a product that allowed them to monitor real-time
calls for service. They were able to locate police vehicles across the entire
security perimeter.
“We could plot camera locations throughout the area,” Tyre said. “When we
click on a camera view in Milestone, we immediately see the video feed from
that location. It was really useful.”
Ease of Use Helps Large Teams Get Up to Speed Quickly
Jones said MACC security shifts ran about 10 hours, with two to four Milestone
users at any given time on site. While many security personnel on the team were
familiar with Milestone, there were others who needed to be trained. Jones said
these trainings went smoothly and quickly.
“We had very few issues with anything related to training,” Jones said. “We
gave some people crash courses on changing and manipulating angles on the
pan-tilt-zoom cameras and changing views in XProtect Smart Client. For others,
we simply pre-created views for them. We spent minimal time re-training
personnel, which was a big help.”
Milestone Mobile Capabilities Assist with Huge Crowd Issues
During the week of the events in downtown Glendale, the city of Phoenix
hosted a variety of activities including musical performances. These shows drew
thousands of people, and since most events happened on two main streets, the
result was a significant crowd buildup.
“We were dealing with a variety of incidents such as pickpockets, lost children,
alcohol-related violations and suspicious packages,” Jason Tyre said. “The ability
for our people on the ground to look at video on their phones and iPads and
react instantly – or in some cases before an incident had even happened – was a
huge advantage for us.”
With the cooperation of Verizon and AT&T expanding the frequency and
spectrum in the area despite a high foot traffic volume, the Phoenix Police
Department was able to stream up to 20 hours of high quality video per day.
This allowed the MACC to examine big-picture scenarios and keep mobile
security personnel updated on situations as they were happening in real time.
Milestone CARE Premium Service Ensures Dependable Support
A service level agreement (SLA) called Milestone CARE Premium was put in
place for the Phoenix Police Department. This ensures delivery of committed
response times for a predictable higher service level engagement that was
defined for these events. This means that if any technical system needs occur
(also external incidences that might interfere with operations), they will have
prioritized technical email and phone support.
Looking to the Future
Tyre said he was happy with the way the tailored security solution managed to
keep people safe and mitigate incidents, but there are also areas where he’d like
to make improvements.
“We did security for the college football championship in January 2016 and
we’re also working the national college basketball tournament,” Tyre said. “We
have a similar setup to the one we had in 2015, except now worked out many
of the kinks in terms of communication and responsiveness. Everyone on this
team worked really hard to build relationships and improve capabilities. We can
anticipate what’s needed and gain traction well before the events get started.”
*Photo credit: Richard Schatzberger