When Trouble Arises, The Seal Beach Police Take To The Internet
Over the past year, Seal Beach, Calif., police department has implemented a wireless network and Internet-linked video system to help it better manage response to alarms, attracting the interest of other departments around the country.
The department has cameras on cars and about 50 placed in banks, stores, and other private and public locations, connected through the Internet and wireless transmitters.
With the system, police dispatchers can evaluate whether an alarm is real or false, while cruisers equipped with Wi-Fi antenna and computer units also can view a scene.
Veriant Systems Inc. manufactures the cameras and video servers, Intel provides the car computers, and Cisco produces the wireless transmitters and virtual private network equipment, and also placed the mobile routers on police cars.
According to research, more than 90 percent of alarms are false, and the real-time video system can help police better handle them. Conventional closed circuit television surveillance systems may only provide images after the fact, and cost about the same as the new system.
Many interests have concerns about the installation of cameras in public locations, however, though Sgt. Dean Zanone notes officers can only use the system in the case of an alarm.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Investor’s Business Daily (02/07/03) P. A4; Angell, Mike.
