Video Surveillance Archives - Page 2 of 12 - Kenton Brothers Systems for Security

Parks and Rec Project: No Network? No Power? No problem.

February 21, 2024/in Commercial Security, Government, Video Surveillance/by Neal Bellamy

By Neal Bellamy, IT Director at Kenton Brothers

Challenging installs are our specialty.

We love a good challenge, and love creating the right solution to meet the need. The latest challenge comes in the way of no network, lots of trees, and in some places… no power.

A local county Parks and Recreation group came to us with several places they wanted to have cameras. They have an existing Milestone commercial video surveillance system in the county, but it was not integrated with their parks and rec department. The team wanted to cover marinas, several park shelters around lakes, and a few trailheads that had no power. The final goal was to integrate everything into the Milestone platform so there is more visibility.

Remote Locations

The first challenge is how remote some of the locations are. An internet connection was available in 8 of the 30+ locations they wanted cameras, but the internet connections were not very strong or fast. We need to make sure the cameras are recording reliably, so we placed servers at the 8 locations as centralized storage spots for the cameras around each area. In one instance, we installed a server at the marina.

No Local Area Network (LAN)

The second challenge is that there is no network at several of the shelters where the department wanted cameras. Of course, wireless radios are nothing new, but we have lots of trees in the way. We had to get pretty creative to make a path from the cameras back to the marina, with line of sight for the radios and the least number of “hops”. There were several times we had to direct the signal away from the marina so that we could collect many signals in one place, and then send it all back to be recorded on the marina server.

No Power

No network is for sure a challenge. But the hardest challenge can be no power. We had to move to a solar solution to power the cameras.

It’s always fun to overcome technical challenges. Projects like these are memorable and satisfying. Do you have an interesting situation to deal with as you consider improving your commercial security posture? We’ve dealth with literally hundreds, and if you have something new, we would love to tackle it with you. Please give us a call.

Unveiling the New AXIS P1468-XLE: Revolutionizing Surveillance in Hazardous Environments

December 13, 2023/in Commercial Security, Video Surveillance/by David Strickland

By David Strickland, Vice President of Kenton Brothers

As part of the Kenton Brothers Systems for Security core values: Innovation, we strive not only stay on top of the newest technology but bring it to you, our customers, when we come across true game changers. The Axis P1468-XLE is one those game changers.

The NEW AXIS P1468-XLE Explosion-Protected Bullet Camera has emerged as a groundbreaking solution tailored for Class 1/Division 2 and ATEX Zone 2 environments. This state-of-the-art camera redefines safety and security, offering unprecedented features designed to meet the stringent requirements of hazardous areas.

Class 1/Division 2 and ATEX Zone 2 environments are known for their potentially explosive atmospheres, often found in industries such as oil and gas, petrochemicals, distilleries and manufacturing. In these settings, conventional surveillance systems may pose safety risks due to the presence of flammable gases, vapors, or dust. The AXIS P1468-XLE addresses this challenge by providing a robust and reliable solution that ensures continuous monitoring without compromising safety.

Key Features:

Explosion-Protected Design:

The AXIS P1468-XLE is engineered with an explosion-protected housing, ensuring that it can operate safely in hazardous environments. This design minimizes the risk of ignition in the presence of combustible substances, making it an ideal choice for areas where safety is paramount.

Built In Plume Detection

Smoke alert analytics monitors for signs of smoke or fire in potentially combustible environments. In operational efficiency applications, “There’s no smoke without fire” is a proverb most of us are familiar with, but even taking its literal meaning is of value: smoke is an early warning sign of a much more serious potential issue if not tackled quickly.

In any environment – from public spaces to warehouses, from stadiums to factories – it’s obvious to say that smoke itself and certainly the fire that might follow is a serious risk to human life, let alone the damage it can cause to buildings and their contents.

But in those environments where even the smallest fire or source of ignition could cause a catastrophic explosion, rapid reaction is absolutely essential. Modern network cameras combined with advanced image analysis can be used to detect possible signs of smoke or fire in a scene, complementing and providing valuable time before smoke is detected using traditional methods.

High-Quality Imaging:

Equipped with advanced imaging capabilities, this camera delivers high-resolution video even in challenging lighting conditions. Its ability to capture clear and detailed footage ensures that security personnel can identify potential threats or incidents with precision.

Extended Low-Light Performance:

The camera’s low-light capabilities are enhanced, allowing it to capture usable footage in conditions with minimal illumination. This feature is crucial for maintaining surveillance effectiveness during nighttime or in poorly lit areas.

Integrated Infrared (IR) Illumination:

The AXIS P1468-XLE comes equipped with integrated IR illumination, extending its surveillance capabilities into the dark. This feature is essential for 24/7 monitoring, providing continuous security coverage regardless of external lighting conditions.

Remote Management and Monitoring:

The camera is designed to facilitate remote management and monitoring, allowing security personnel to access live feeds and recorded footage from a central location. This feature enhances situational awareness and enables swift response to potential incidents.

Compliance with Industry Standards:

The AXIS P1468-XLE complies with international standards and certifications for hazardous environments, including ATEX and UL certifications. This ensures that the camera meets the strict safety requirements necessary for deployment in Class 1/Division 2 and ATEX Zone 2 areas.

Benefits:

Enhanced Safety:

The foremost benefit of the AXIS P1468-XLE is its contribution to enhanced safety. By providing reliable surveillance in hazardous environments, it helps prevent incidents and ensures the well-being of personnel and assets.

Operational Continuity:

The camera’s robust design and advanced features enable it to operate seamlessly in challenging conditions. This contributes to operational continuity by maintaining surveillance capabilities in all circumstances.

Cost-Effective Security:

Investing in a specialized camera designed for hazardous environments is a cost-effective solution. The AXIS P1468-XLE minimizes the risk of equipment failure and potential damage caused by explosive atmospheres, reducing the overall cost of security infrastructure.

Regulatory Compliance:

With its adherence to international safety standards, the AXIS P1468-XLE assists organizations in meeting regulatory requirements for surveillance in hazardous locations. This compliance is essential for legal and insurance purposes.

The AXIS P1468-XLE

The AXIS P1468-XLE Explosion-Protected Bullet Camera stands at the forefront of innovation, addressing the unique challenges posed by Class 1/Division 2 and ATEX Zone 2 environments. Its combination of advanced features, compliance with safety standards, and commitment to reliability make it an indispensable tool for industries where safety and security are non-negotiable. As technology continues to evolve, the AXIS P1468-XLE sets a new standard for surveillance in hazardous environments, ensuring that organizations can embrace the future with confidence and peace of mind.

Give us a call today to demo one of these amazing cameras!

Enhancing Law Enforcement with BriefCam: Doing More with Less

October 18, 2023/in Commercial Security, Video Surveillance/by David Strickland

By David Strickland, Vice President of Kenton Brothers

Recently, Kenton Brothers was approached by a large university police department about helping them solve a few key issues.

Doing more with less – Facing staffing shortages and a growing student population the campus police needed to leverage technology to keep safety and security a top-level deliverable.
Exponentially increasing crime and criminal capabilities presented steeper challenges than they traditionally faced, and unsolved cases had risen beyond the resources available to investigate them properly.
Surveillance footage was an ever-increasing mountain of data to pour through and required more and more resources from an investigation point of view.

Presented with these obstacles, Kenton Brothers went to work on understanding their current capabilities and their infrastructure through our Needs Analysis Assessment. As a part of our KB Advantage process, we set out to interview and completely understand the organizations needs from multiple points of view. Administration, HR, Facilities, Police Officers and Students. After a full assessment, Kenton Brothers recommended BriefCam analytics to solve their most pressing issues.

For the campus police department, staying ahead of criminal activity and ensuring public safety is a paramount concern. To meet these challenges head-on, law enforcement agencies are increasingly turning to cutting-edge technologies to aid their efforts. One such groundbreaking tool that has been making waves in the law enforcement community is BriefCam. BriefCam is a powerful video analytics platform that offers numerous advantages for law enforcement agencies.

Evidence Collection, Documentation and Management

In criminal investigations, the collection and preservation of evidence are paramount. BriefCam assists law enforcement in this critical aspect by enabling the easy extraction of relevant video clips for use in court proceedings. This ensures that the chain of custody is maintained and that evidence is admissible in court, ultimately leading to more successful prosecutions.

Managing a large volume of video evidence can be challenging for law enforcement agencies. BriefCam offers tools for tagging, categorizing, and organizing video clips, making it easier to manage and retrieve evidence as needed. This streamlined approach to case management improves efficiency and ensures that nothing is overlooked during the investigative process.

Rapid Video Review and Analysis

One of the most significant advantages of using BriefCam in law enforcement is its ability to rapidly review and analyze large volumes of video footage. Traditional video review methods can be time-consuming and labor-intensive, often requiring officers to manually sift through hours of footage. BriefCam’s advanced video analytics capabilities allow law enforcement agencies to quickly identify and extract relevant information from video recordings, saving valuable time and resources.

Enhanced Investigative Capabilities

BriefCam empowers investigators by enabling them to easily search for specific events or objects within video footage. Its powerful search algorithms can identify and track objects, individuals, or vehicles across multiple camera feeds and timeframes. This capability is particularly valuable in solving crimes, locating missing persons, and tracking down suspects, as it significantly accelerates the investigative process.

Crime Prevention and Public Safety

Preventing crime and ensuring public safety are the primary goals of any law enforcement agency. BriefCam plays a crucial role in achieving these objectives by providing real-time alerts and notifications. It can detect and trigger alerts for various predefined events, such as unattended bags, loitering, or perimeter breaches. This proactive approach allows law enforcement to respond swiftly to potential threats and take preventive measures to mitigate risks.

Data Visualization and Pattern Analysis

BriefCam’s data visualization tools enable law enforcement agencies to gain insights into crime patterns and trends. By analyzing historical video data, agencies can identify recurring patterns, hotspots, and potential areas of concern. This information is invaluable for strategic planning, resource allocation, and deploying officers more effectively to deter criminal activities.

Improved Resource Allocation

Efficient resource allocation is essential for law enforcement agencies to respond effectively to emergencies and maintain community safety. BriefCam’s analytics help agencies optimize resource allocation by providing real-time information on incident locations and severity. This ensures that officers are deployed where they are needed most, reducing response times and enhancing overall public safety.

Cost-Efficiency

While adopting new technology can be expensive, the long-term cost savings of using BriefCam are significant. By automating labor-intensive tasks and improving overall operational efficiency, law enforcement agencies can reduce overtime costs and allocate resources more wisely. Additionally, the ability to deter and prevent crimes can lead to reduced expenses related to investigations and court proceedings.

Integration with Existing Systems

BriefCam is designed to seamlessly integrate with existing video surveillance systems, making it a versatile and practical choice for law enforcement agencies. This compatibility allows agencies to leverage their existing infrastructure while enhancing their capabilities with BriefCam’s advanced analytics and features.

The Result

A year later, the police department reports “amazing success” with the new technology and how it is impacting their day-to-day police duties. BriefCam has emerged as a powerful ally for law enforcement agencies in their mission to protect and serve their communities. Its rapid video review and analysis, investigative capabilities, crime prevention tools, data visualization, and numerous other features make it an indispensable tool in the modern law enforcement toolkit. By embracing this technology, agencies can enhance their operational efficiency, improve public safety, and better fulfill their crucial role in society. As technology continues to advance, BriefCam and similar tools will undoubtedly play an increasingly vital role in the future of law enforcement especially on campus.

Do you face similar challenges? If so, please give us a call and let us do a no cost KB Advantage Needs Analysis for you.

Learn More About BriefCam

Chain of Custody in Commercial Security

September 27, 2023/in Access Control, Commercial Security, Video Surveillance/by Ryan Kaullen

By Ryan Kaullen, Field Services Manager at Kenton Brothers

Many of you know that our goal is to protect people, property, and possessions. Something that comes up related to this goal is Chain of Custody.

You may be wondering what Kenton Brothers has to do with Chain of Custody and how we would be involved. Unfortunately, part of the work we do in the commercial security industry is capturing evidence. This evidence comes in many forms. Evidence may include video surveillance recordings, security system audit trails and more. We capture this information to help protect companies from theft, fraud, and work place incidents. There are plenty of scenarios that result in law enforcement being involved.

What is Chain of Custody?

Chain of Custody is the documentation of chronological events related to an incident. Protection of how the evidence is handled, who handles it and more matters. The idea is that law enforcement needs to be able to review and use video and other forms of documentation as evidence in a trial or hearing.

A Recent Example for a Banking Client

We recently received a Chain of Custody request from one of our banking clients. They had an event that they deemed legally significant and requested our help in documenting what had happened. They needed our help to get the video segments exported properly. They wanted footage from all of the cameras at one of their locations over the past 30 days. (That’s a good amount of video data!)

Our first step was to download the footage locally to external hard drives. The video data had to have password encryption. And the video footage had to be time stamped. We also had to fill out Chain of Custody paperwork.

On top of those requirements, the equipment and external drives couldn’t be left unsecured while we were downloading the video segments. We also had to be in an access-controlled room for audit purposes. It was crucial that we followed every step correctly to make sure their case against the accused is rock solid. We had to make sure the evidence we helped provide would not get thrown out due to Chain of Custody problems.

Once the video had been downloaded onto the drives, our technician had to hand deliver the hard drives to the bank’s lawyer and provide the Chain of Custody paperwork.

We Take Chain of Custody Seriously

Chain of Custody is something Kenton Brothers takes extremely seriously for many reasons. One, we want to make sure we are providing our customers with a level of service and reliability they can count on. We also want to make sure law enforcement has what they need to support or refute claims. This is also a great example of how the commercial security systems we sell and support do what they’re supposed to do.

The reality is that you hope you never have to use footage, audits, etc. against someone working for you or coming in to your place of business. But when something does happen, you want to make sure you have the right systems in place to protect the people, property, and possessions of those who work there.

To learn more about how Kenton Brothers Systems for Security can protect you and your business, please give us a call.

Radio Towers? Yes, We Do That

September 20, 2023/in Commercial Security, Video Surveillance/by Neal Bellamy

By Neal Bellamy, IT Director at Kenton Brothers

In today’s episode of “Yes, we can do that”, I bring you Radio Towers. It’s not the first time we have placed equipment on towers, but this time I have pictures!

The Problem:

A municipality approached us with two issues they wanted to solve.

First, they wanted cameras installed in strategic spots around their city, but did not have any network infrastructure to get the signal back to the police station. Second, they wanted to create a security perimeter around the radio tower itself. There was some extra credit available if we could get some long-distance cameras mounted on the tower as well.

The Solution:

We wanted a high bandwidth link between the tower and the police station. We know that the city may add cameras later and the likely point of communication will go through the tower. Maximizing the link from the tower to the police station will future-proof the installation.

We chose Ubiquiti Air Fiber as that link. It is less likely to be affected by interference and provides a theoretical 1 Gigabit connection.

For the cameras in strategic locations, we wanted to provide flexibility in where the cameras and radios will be placed. We know that they will want to add cameras later and time will change the requirements for where the cameras are needed.

For these radios, we chose Ubiquiti AirMax Rocket Prism 5AC with a 120-degree sector antenna. The large angle allows the radio to be moved around as needed. Since we had two locations that were not within 120 degrees of each other, we needed two of these radios covering 240 degrees total.

The camera choice was simple: Axis Q6135-LE cameras fit the bill easily. With 32x optical zoom, the city will be able to see almost anywhere within several miles of the tower. These Pan-Tilt-Zoom cameras (PTZs) also have excellent low-light visibility. They wanted 360-degree coverage from the tower, so two cameras were needed.

To be clear, I don’t mind heights. But 175 feet in the air is above my limits and pay grade, so we hired a professional. Enter Kasper. Kasper’s Business Kaap Kom focuses on communication and radio towers. He came recommended to us by a current client. (After spending all day with him, I couldn’t recommend him enough.)

The Result:

Kasper did all of the scary work with us as his ground crew. It took seven hours to mount all the equipment, install the cables, and carefully align the radios. There were some hiccups along the way, but our team was able to get past each one and successfully deliver the desired result.

We ended up with over 750 Mbps link back to the police station and 350 Mbps for both remote links. The wireless connection can support around 100 cameras spread throughout the city wherever they are needed. The two PTZs can see details for miles. All in all, it was a mission accomplished and another great project. Radio Towers? Yes, we do that too.

Need help with your commercial security requirements? Just give us a call.

Archive for category: Video Surveillance