Municipal Surveillance

Choose a Technology Partner

ASIS International – known for education, sponsored a “City Wide IP Surveillance Session” at the 59th annual seminar. The “partner criteria” became the subject of an article published in Law Officer Magazine. The cities of Corona and Yucaipa referenced this criteria for their City-Wide RFP. Other cities such as Covina and Victorville piggybacked upon the Corona RFP.

Networking Expertise

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Requirement:
The integrator must be highly accredited (i.e. Cisco Gold Partner).
Purpose:
Provisioning video across an IP Network, while meeting performance and security requirements is an extremely complex undertaking which requires an experienced and knowledgeable integrator.

Experience

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Requirement:
The Integrator must be able to provide at least 5 City-Wide IP Surveillance references. Deployments must consist of at least 30 cameras deployed via wireless, and all at least ½ mile from the core video surveillance network equipment.
Purpose:
A deployment of surveillance cameras connected via wireless and at least ½ mile from the video network core provides assurance of the technical capability of the integrator to design and deploy a wireless network capable of meeting current requirements and future scalability.

Local Support

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Requirement:
The same 5 City-Wide IP Surveillance references must currently be supported by the Integrator. Be wary of subcontractors performing support (i.e. certifications, experience)
Purpose:
A City-Wide IP Surveillance System is extremely complex and requires a collaborative effort to maintain its capabilities. Ensuring the IP Surveillance System is operational requires the integrator to provide local service resources.

System Effectiveness

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Requirement:
The Integrator must provide at least 3 video incidents from at least 3 different City-Wide IP Surveillance Systems. A video incident is defined as one or more video clips depicting an incident of interest to the Police Department.
Purpose:
This is the objective of a City-Wide IP Surveillance System and should be a minimum standard to prove a successful deployment..

Post Installation Support Track Record

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Requirement:
The integrator must provide at least 5 City-Wide IP Surveillance references where the system has been completely installed and maintained for at least 24 months.
Purpose:
Many integrators promise to deliver capabilities, but do not have successful deployments. Identifying a satisfied customer and one that has been satisfied for 2 years provides assurance the integrator is capable of successfully installing and maintaining a City-Wide IP Surveillance System.

Video Quality

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Requirement:
The integrator must provide quality video that is acceptable in frames per second and resolution and also provide samples of video from other City-Wide IP Surveillance Systems that they have installed and are supporting.
Purpose:
Many surveillance systems meet the minimum technical requirements; however due to poor design, compromised the video quality. This is commonly done by throttling the video stream data rate, resulting in poor video.

System Scalability

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Requirement:
The Integrator must defend their architecture’s ability to scale and explain to the City their recommendations to scale the system based upon requirements. The Integrator should provide at least 3 City-Wide IP Surveillance Systems where they have expanded from the original deployment.
Purpose:
Creating a scalable, minimal latency system requires a system designed to provide virtual connectivity between any video camera and any video viewing station. The City may not know the extent they’d like to scale the system, but need the assurance that the system has flexible scalability.

System Interoperability

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Requirement:
The Integrator must discuss and defend the ability to integrate other systems (Computer Aided Dispatch, Automatic License Plate Recognition, Gun Shot Detection, etc.) and cameras (Axis, Bosch, Sony, etc.) into the proposed City Wide IP Surveillance System. The Integrator must provide at least 3 City-Wide IP Surveillance Systems where the integrator was able to accomplish both integration into other systems and integration of multiple camera manufacturers.
Purpose:
Scalability will most likely require integration of multiple camera manufacturers into a City-Wide IP Surveillance system. For proactive response capabilities integration of CAD and other notification systems into the City Wide IP Surveillance System is a requirement.

System Latency

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Requirement:
The Integrator must demonstrate through existing City-Wide IP Surveillance System deployments that latency is less than 1 second.
Purpose:
Proactive video policing requires that video has minimal latency. An example would be moving a PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) camera to follow a suspect. Latency of greater than 1-2 seconds is not acceptable for law enforcement.

Disaster Recovery Emergency Operations

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Requirement:
The camera system must be able to operate from an Emergency Operations Center if the primary dispatch location becomes unavailable. The Integrator must provide at least 3 City-Wide IP Surveillance Systems that the integrator has designed, deployed, and verified that an Emergency Operations Center is operational.
Purpose:
When a City adopts an IP based Surveillance System it becomes integrated into everyday processes. Much like a phone system is always operational, so too a City-Wide IP Surveillance System must be operational always.

Technical Certification of Integrator

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Requirement:
Integrators will use OEM products. The Integrator must be able to demonstrate via certifications that they are technically vetted by the OEM to design, deploy, and support the proposed system. The certifications should be held by full-time employees.
Purpose:
The Integrator must be able to support the City Wide IP Surveillance System in order for the system to remain fully operational.

School District Integration

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Requirement:
City-Wide IP Surveillance Systems would require the ability to integrate a full school district camera system with the Police Department for viewing of live, latent-free video. The Integrator should be able to prove this functionality, level of competency and experience.
Purpose:
Maintaining a visible active presence in school campuses will reduce nuisance crime, and provide the necessary information for Emergency Responders. Sharing of surveillance assets ensures the borders of the school campus are seamless to the City-Wide Surveillance System.

Video Retention Capabilities – Track Record

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Requirement:
City-Wide IP Surveillance Systems require two distinct video retention policies. Video buffering is required for street level cameras. State and Local Authorities govern video retention policies for jails and other facilities. Video retention strategy and design should include systems with redundancy (power, airflow, RAID, etc.) and failover/failback.

Integrator must provide at least 3 City-Wide IP Surveillance Systems references where Video Buffering is in place.
Integrator must provide at least 3 City-Wide IP Surveillance Systems references that are recording video for jails, including interview rooms and custody facilities.
Purpose:
The City-Wide IP Surveillance System will include video retention requirements and an Integrator must prove experience in this area.