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Border Protection & Homeland Security
All across the United States our Homeland Security
initiative is making an impact. One way this impact has been
observed has been through a rapid and extensive increase in the
deployment of surveillance cameras. Properly and strategically
deployed cameras are the first line of defense in border,
utility, business and transportation security applications.
Cameras strategically located around the perimeter of the
respective facility or border crossing provide the security team
with an ability to identify potential threats before the
perimeter is breached. The ability to see what's coming at you,
from where and with what, certainly gives any responding
security team a strategic advantage in stopping the threat
before it becomes realized. It is always better to stop a breach
prior to or during its occurrence rather than simply clean up
afterwards, and only use the cameras to identify the
perpetrators after the fact. With this concept in mind, three
key factors must be considered in the deployment of perimeter
surveillance cameras: mounting height, mounting location and
maintainability.
Mounting speculation
Mounting height
It's simple ... the higher you are the more area you can view.
It is becoming apparent that a single camera mounted at 60-100ft
(depending upon topography) can do the work of three or more
cameras mounted at 40ft or lower. This can result in hundreds of
thousands of dollars being saved in the initial design as well
as overall maintenance. Furthermore, by increasing the mounting
height you effectively decrease the ease of vandalization.
Mounting location
In the perimeter surveillance, the ideal camera mounting
location is away from the facility itself. This allows the
security team to recognize approaching threats quicker, while at
the same time being able to look back at the facility and view
where the building or structure access is being attempted - even
if on a roof. Building-mounted cameras do not have the same
versatility and area of view as a pole-mounted camera located
away from the facility. In some border or port applications, the
location of the camera is dependent upon whether a service
(bucket) truck can gain access. Many times an excellent mounting
location for viewing purposes (hilltop, hillside, or pier) is
negated due to the problem of bucket truck accessibility.
Maintainability
This is the cornerstone issue in any surveillance application.
When a camera remains down for more than 15 to 20 minutes, the
resulting vulnerability (loss of sight) can create a passive
security breach that requires the costly deployment of personnel
to secure the area previously observed by the camera. Typical
maintenance for pole- or structure-mounted cameras is most often
by way of a bucket truck. The availability or accessibility of
such trucks can mean a camera will remain offline for several
hours to several days. Excessive camera downtime can cripple any
facility, port or border from being able to effectively defend
itself from impending threats. Acknowledging the importance of
maintainability, and that with most projects maintainability
almost always controls mounting height and location, camera
deployment becomes an issue of "how high can the local bucket
truck go?" and/or "can we get a bucket truck to the area where
the camera is to be located?" However, with a CCTV lowering
system, pole locations are no longer determined by 'where or how
high' the bucket truck can go. If the best location for the pole
is on an embankment, down a slope, on top of a parking deck or
on a pier, placement can be successfully achieved without the
concern of how the bucket truck will access the camera.
Regardless of the height or location chosen, the ability to
quickly and easily access the cameras for maintenance can make a
huge difference in the overall success of the security camera
application. If the camera cannot be maintained at a moments
notice with only one person, then money spent for the camera
becomes a waste. The implementation of a camera-lowering device
allows cameras to be accessed by a single person in a matter of
seconds. All maintenance or replacement can be done at ground
level, thereby eliminating the safety concerns of workers
40-plus feet above ground in a traditional bucket truck or tower
climbers. This lowering technology is currently being utilized
by the US Customs & Border Protection at several ports of entry
from the US to Canada and US to Mexico. With the ability to
perform required maintenance or replace a downed camera in less
than 10 minutes, CCTV lowering systems should be a mandatory
consideration for any perimeter security application.
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