The recent riots in London, Birmingham and Manchester here in the UK, the fan riots after the Vancouver Canucks Stanley Cup loss to the Boston Bruins, the Loughner rampage at a political event in Arizona and the massive earthquake in Japan are examples of unexpected safety and security situations that have a rippling impact on the communities involved.
Increasingly, public and private sector agencies are seeking ways in which to collaborate and share data in real-time to more effectively manage safety and security situations, reduce response times and minimise risk. What’s more, they’re leveraging Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) technologies to accomplish these goals.
To better illustrate this, here is ‘A Day In The Life’ example of PSIM in action.
2011 NCAA Final Four Men’s Basketball Tournament (Houston, Texas)
Much like any city that has won a bid for a national or global sporting event, the City of Houston was honoured to host the 2011 NCAA Final Four Men’s Basketball Tournament.
However, with more than 100,000 new visitors flooding the city, the opportunity came with new challenges to secure and protect the public, the city and its assets surrounding the tournament.
To enhance the overall safety of residents, visitors and first responders during this time, the City of Houston installed additional outdoor cameras and integrated those cameras with existing security devices at Reliant Park where the tournament was to be held. There was also an integration of the cameras at the Metro Rail stop with PSIM software in the weeks immediately prior to the event.
By extending the existing security infrastructure with PSIM technology, the City gained a complete view of activity in and around the event area, in turn enabling multiple organisations (among them the Houston Police Department, the Houston Fire Department, the Office of Emergency Management and 911 Dispatch, Houston Metro Police, Harris County Sheriff’s Office, the NCAA and Reliant Park Security) to work together in real-time.
To manage designated event areas, multiple command centres were also established for each security team, and the stadium’s general manager had a laptop running the software courtside.
Shared access: how does it work?
Officials at each command centre and near the basketball court shared access to the 300 cameras located throughout areas affected by the event’s activities in case of an emergency response requiring full inter-agency collaboration.
As security concerns were reported, PSIM software enabled officers to pull up the images cameras generated by cameras outside and inside the arena to monitor and search for suspects who matched the descriptions of reported situations.
Operators were able to track and deliver real-time information on the whereabouts of suspects to officers being dispatched. Following any incidents, they could continue to monitor individuals outside of the stadium and downtown for continued safety.
Additional key Public Safety and Homeland Security stakeholders in the region were able to view the same video sources from command centres located in the city.
This collaboration allowed security officials to protect athletes, as well as the 145,797 record number of fans in attendance both inside and outside of the arena and downtown.
Effective collaboration: efficient security
PSIM cannot predict the unexpected, but it can help businesses, cities and agencies protect people and assets with more effective sharing of intelligence and resources.
With preparation for the London 2012 Olympic Games underway, PSIM has the ability to optimise the security investments in place and information sharing capabilities among city and private organisations amidst one of the largest public gatherings in the world to more effectively manage the safety and security of visitors, athletes, the city and its assets.