Case Study: Milestone – Roumieh Prison in Lebanon Deploys Arecont Vision Megapixel Cameras for Lockup Monitoring – Lebanon

Background:
Roumieh is the largest prison in Lebanon, holdingthousands of prisonerswithin its walls. The size of the prison  population  of  Roumieh  and  the  challenges  authorities  face  around  internal crime,  corruption, contraband,and inmate unrest have led to the continued notoriety of the facility.

The prison consists of five buildings andhosts a variety of convicts and detainees. It’s population ranges from  individuals  held  on  remand  toterrorists  and  high-risk  prisoners  who  pose greatchallengesto security.

Ariot  broke  out  in  the  cellblock  of  building  Ain  2015. The  violent  disturbance  required  the  dispatch of elite Internal Security Forces who wereable to end theincident after several hours. After such an event, officialsconcluded  there  was  a  needto  improve both  the  conditions  and  the overallsecurity  of  the institution.

Guardia Systems  was chosen  as the systems integrator for the installation of anew surveillance system within the  prison. This  project ispart  of  an  ongoing  effort  to  increase  security  within  the  facility  while reducing criminal behavior.

The Project:
Guardia  Systems deployed one hundred  and  thirty-nine  Arecont  Vision  megapixel  cameras  inside  the prison  walls.  The  surveillance  system  provides comprehensive monitoring of  all  of the buildings,courtyards,and main entrance of the facility.

The   Arecont   Vision   cameras   installed for   Roumieh   Prison include twenty-four   MegaDome 5MP (megapixel) and one hundred and fifteen MegaDome 3MP cameras. All of the cameras are integrated with the video management system (VMS)and monitored from the prison control room twenty-four hours a day.

The benefits of Arecont Vision’s cameras were clear from the beginning. Their simplified installation requirements reduced the manpower needed for the deployment phase of the project. The cameras are also extremely adept at operating under a variety of lighting conditions, and Guardia Systems specifically identified the availability of both advanced low-light imaging along with true WDR (Wide Dynamic Range) technology as important factors leading to the selection of Arecont Vision for the project:

“With widely varying lighting conditions inside the prison, combined with both indoor and outdoor views to be covered by the same cameras, the low light and WDR capabilities of Arecont Vision products were very important to their selection,” said Engineer Chadi Rahi, Business Development & Sales Manager at Guardia Systems.

“The ease of installation that Arecont Vision cameras offer was also a very important factor leading to the selection of the brand.”

Arecont Vision’s competitive pricing and Guardia’s positive experience with the company’s Technical Assistance Center (TAC) further informed their decision:

“We  have  used  Arecont  Vision  cameras  in  other  projects  with  equal  success,  so  we already knew  the outstanding product quality and advanced features for the prison would be delivered at a very competitive price,” Mr. Rahi added.

Milestone Systems was chosen as the VMS for the project which provides a fully integrated and seamless surveillance system.  Arecont Vision and Milestone have years of experience working together and have integrated a  multitude  of surveillance  projects worldwide  for  a  wide  range  of requirements. Arecont Vision was awarded two Global Partner of the Year Awards in the last five years.

Through the Arecont Vision Technology Partner Program, new cameras, features, and updated capabilities are pre-tested in the Arecont Vision MegaLab™ with Milestone and other vendor software and hardware. Customer  support  is  also  simplified  through  the  use  of  the  MegaLab  for the  resolution  of  any  post-installation problems.

The Result:
Whenever an incident occurs in the prison, the Arecont Vision cameras are able to accurately capture it on video for response and action by the authorities:

“Our surveillance security system was used several times to investigate specific activities, behaviors,andincidents  that  occurred  during  the  past  period  of  instability  in  the  prison,” said Sandy Issa,  Head  of Communication & PR at Guardia Systems.

The video surveillance system is monitored from a Command and Control Center thataccommodates15 operators. Center personnel are always on duty watching the feed from the cameras.

Acceptance of the surveillance system has not come without challenges. Prisoners have tried to destroy or damage the infrastructure installedin several of the buildings:

“The prisoners have tried to burn the cables and even the cameras themselves. Despite that, theArecont Visioncameras were still able to record useful footage of the incidents,” said Mr. Rahi. “The images were very clear, even with the resulting smoke and fire.

”Arecont  Vision introduced  new  vandal-resistant,  hardened corner-mount enclosures that  can  be added foradditional camera protection. Their use willbetter protect newly installed cameras from destruction and vandalism.

“The video surveillance system has performed very well for Roumieh Prison in improving the security environment,” concluded Mr. Rahi.

APPLICATIONS build nvr custom nvr INDUSTRY SOLUTIONS LEARNING CENTER Milestone XProtect RESOURCES SERVICES TECHNOLOGY Video Surveillance