San Diego Convention Center Combines Analog And Digital Technologies
Renovating the San Diego Convention Center took $216 million and two years, and the end result is an attractive and physically secure building that combines new technology with older security systems.
The center has over 500,000 square feet of continuous space for exhibits and conventions, making it No. 20 on the list of the largest convention centers in North America.
A major renovation was performed not only on the building, but on the security system as well, with cameras surrounding the exterior of the center, allowing security guards to monitor who enters the parking lot, who enters the building, and where people are moving throughout the complex.
The cameras used can even magnify the picture enough to identify license plates, and can be set to monitor eight different zones using either analog video or digital recording.
There is a security room where staff can monitor the cameras, override them, set off alarms and reset them, and turn on a VHS recording.
Security monitors every entrance with a guard and a computer, and the staff is trained to function in all security departments, not just one specialty.
There are 250 two-way radios available for staff to communicate throughout the building, and each radio can also act as a telephone and can be integrated with other agencies’ systems.
The building contains smoke, water-flow, air-duct, and heat detectors, and allows security to locate where an alert went off on an LED schematic map and respond to that specific area before turning the alarm off.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from Access Control & Security Systems (05/03) Vol. 46, No. 6, P. 32; Roth, Jo’el.
