15/07/2015

Schools prioritise with security upgrade

Sarasota, Fl

Sarasota schools prioritise security

Seriously prioritising the safety of pupils and staff and the rising number of incidents such as vandalism, destruction of property, theft, assault and even shootings, the leaders of the schools in the idyllic Sarasota County School District on the Gulf Coast of Florida wanted to take necessary precautions to provide the best possible protection for all concerned. Partner United Security Alliance, certified by Geutebruck, was commissioned to secure 4 high schools and 2 middle schools at various locations. The technical design and equipment for all middle schools and high schools is already in the planning phase and will be completed within the next two years.

With United Security Alliance, a professional partner was chosen with many years of experience and deep technical knowledge. This made it possible to provide a solution that is not only fully mature from a technical perspective but that also provides additional benefits. All schools are interconnected and are controlled by a centralised control centre, the Safety & Security Communications Center. The monitors with views from multiple cameras at all the schools are up and running there in real time: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This ensures both preventive monitoring as well as quick assessment, response and, in the best case, the immediate clarification of incidents and crimes. At the same time, school administrators and School Resource Officers on site can check recordings locally and directly follow up on incidents.

To provide these services, multiple Re_porter, Geviscope and Gevistore video management systems were put into use with the existing analog and IP cameras. At each school and in the central control centre, Speedview stations are used as analysis units, from which the security personnel can access all live streams and recorded images. All images are archived for 45 days, placing high demands on storage capacity. The schools were initially equipped with 16 cameras 11 years ago. Today, there are 4,300 cameras. And more to come …

Tim Butler is an experienced security system engineer who has worked in the security industry for many years. Specialising in cameras and access control, he has been employed at the Sarasota County Schools for the past 13 years. When asked why he chose Geutebruck technology, his answer came quickly: “Storage was the largest challenge. State requirements mandate 30 days of storage but the school district’s goal is to keep at least 35 days’ worth. In the previous system estimating storage needs accurately was difficult and Geutebruck was able to provide what we needed. There were several systems that were considered at the enterprise level and Geutebruck fit all the characteristics that we were looking for. In addition, the transition from analogue to the world of IP was made easier by using Geutebruck. All employees are trained internally and the staff can easily handle the equipment in the schools."

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