What Campuses Need
3 advanced security technologies that campuses need this year
- By Bruce Canal
- April 01, 2021
Higher education institutions are a
microcosm of society at-large. One
example of this is people using
video to document altercations and,
in particular, to challenge the
actions of law enforcement. Another is the
continuing effort to stop the spread of
COVID-19 using technology to limit contact
between people. These trends are influencing
the types of security technologies considered
necessary on a campus today.
Among the advanced security technologies
available to address a campus’ needs are body-worn
cameras, video with analytics, and
touch-less access control solutions. Here’s how
they benefit a college or university campus.
Body Worn Cameras: Why they are an
Important Security Tool
Due to the ubiquity of smartphones, any altercation
between law enforcement and the general
public is assuredly video-recorded and
often disseminated on social media. To counter
what could be a one-sided account of an
incident, campus law enforcement may use
body-worn cameras (BWCs) to provide firsthand
and complete video and audio documentation
of those events, including any arrests.
BWC cannot be altered or edited, an element
that is critical to the integrity of the data.
BWCs can provide security departments
with increased accountability by having a
record of an event that can be compared
with, say, a bystander’s video — depicting a
more comprehensive picture of the entire
situation. Because it can’t be tampered with,
BWC video can be verified as accurate and
used in potential litigation.
Body worn cameras also can diffuse situations
and act as a deterrent. The fact that a
citizen knows that their words and actions
are being recorded on camera may have a
chilling effect on aberrant behavior. BWCs
with 12-hour power capacity allow campus
law enforcement officers to wear them for an
entire shift, thus gaining a better record of
their duties and activities.
In actual use, both video and audio are
captured and stored on the camera in the
field, then transferred to the camera when it
is placed in its docking station. The system
allows the transfer of data to a storage device
— either on-premises or in the cloud.
Data is encrypted both at rest and in
transfer. With an open architecture solution,
the BWC can operate on the most popular
brands of VMS. Having a BWC system that
works with most VMS provides many bene-
fits to a university. For example, in the event
of an accusation, the security director can
grant permission to the institution’s lawyer,
internal affairs department, and others, letting
each review the footage independently.
Video Analytics: How They Work
School administrators have asked for more
from their camera systems and analytics are
the best step forward to maximize video
technology. Analytics used at educational
institutions enable law enforcement to work
smartly, students to live more safely, and
operations staff to work more efficiently.
Cameras with analytics built-in, working “on
the edge,” are not only desired today — they
are required today.
Analytics can help with aggression detection,
people counting, radar and motion
detection, and searching/reviewing video.
While edge analytics have many advantages,
server-based analytics also are available for
use with camera systems that have been previously
installed.
Aggression detection coupled with gunshot-
detection analytics are critical to
advanced security operations. Aggression
detection identifies when a person is highly
stressed by an active assailant (armed or
unarmed) and can alert authorities with
location information and video data in real
time. This type of analytic detects the sounds
of a physical altercation, a bullying incident,
or someone yelling in fear. These analytics
can tell the difference between a person yelling
and cheering because their player just
sank a three-point jump shot, and someone
screaming because their life is imperiled.
Estimating the number of people in a certain
area using a people-counting analytic is
in part driven by COVID-19 mandates that
limit occupancy. Higher education will also
see value in people-counting analytics when
monitoring organized demonstrations.
Radar-based motion detectors, which
detect intrusion in large areas, and motion
analytics, which detect people and vehicles,
help officials learn of incidents that they otherwise
might miss because of the time/day of
the event (for example, on a weekend) or the
availability of someone to see it. Radar detectors
and motion analytics make video cameras
more productive and efficient; they can
send alerts when something is detected in
the area being observed and make audio
announcements via a network speaker to
direct the intruder to leave the area. The bottom
line is that radar detectors and motion
analytics allow cameras to provide more
than forensic evidence of an incident — they
become tools for the prevention of crime.
Video search analytics enable campus law
enforcement staff to collapse the task of
reviewing video from what could normally
take hours or even days, into a matter of minutes.
With this analytic the user inputs particular
data such as a person’s clothing or
description of their vehicle and the analytics
search across thousands of cameras that may
be present on a campus, providing important
information such as which direction a perpetrator
may have gone following their crime. It
is not humanly possible for someone to watch
scene, after scene looking for one type of vehicle,
for instance. Chances are they’re going to
miss it, whereas analytics can do that job.
Analytics belong to the class of artificial
intelligence, affording functions that human
beings can do, but doing them much more
efficiently and continually.
Access Control: How a University Can Benefit
Professionals in the higher education market
in 2021 will be eager to implement access
control technologies that help them mitigate
COVID-19, while protecting students, staff, and visitors and making their lives easier and
more efficient. The trend in access control is
that any investment should offer both alleviation
from the spread of COVID-19 and a
clear security benefit — both a today and
tomorrow perspective. What’s more, the total
cost of ownership (TCO) of access control
solutions can be shared by multiple internal
disciplines at an institution. With different
budgets all sharing the cost, the TCO for any
one specific entity is reduced tremendously.
Given its ability to create a touch-less environment,
access cards or mobile access
smartphone technology coupled with powered
doors can grant or restrict access at
exterior and interior doors. A powered door,
when an access credential is presented,
opens automatically and closes/locks a few
seconds afterwards. Door handles never
need to be touched, mitigating the spread of
COVID-19.
Mobile smartphone technology has applications
for both security and business operations
at a college or university; for example,
access to dormitories and parking garages,
purchases at bookstores and food courts,
tickets to sporting events or performing arts
events, borrowing capabilities at libraries,
passes to campus transportation.
Network audio/video door stations also
provide higher education with a solution
that can help curb the spread of COVID-19,
while creating a flank of security on either a
perimeter or interior of a building. The benefits
of having integrated two-way high-definition
(HD) audio communication with HD
video verification are powerful.
Audio/video door stations are used to vet
people before they enter buildings or suites,
thus reducing the possibility of face-to-face
meetings. They are an excellent solution for
offices with infrequent visitors, especially if
the visitor is simply looking for directions or
has a question that can be answered remotely.
Billions of dollars from the March 2020
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic
Security (CARES) Act and the December
2020 CARES Act Extension are available to
higher education institutions and are currently
being underused. Part of these funds
have been set aside specifically for higher
education, and can be used for anything that
mitigates the spread of COVID-19. Access
control technology upgrades fall into that
category.
Colleges and universities are security intensive
environments whose campuses
need efficient and effective tools to not only
protect students, professors, staff, and visitors,
but to help law enforcement manage
issues, too. Body-worn cameras, video analytics,
and access control are three advanced
security technologies that can help them do
that job.
This article originally appeared in the March / April 2021 issue of Campus Security Today.