Oct 21, 2008 3:00 PM, By Mary Rose Roberts

Cameras to act as force multipliers in higher-crime areas of Va. city

The city of Norfolk, Va., chose EF Johnson Technologies as the system integrator for a citywide video surveillance system, the company announced. The video surveillance system is supported by the company’s secure FIPS 140-2 validated broadband access points and integrated, third-party pan/tilt/zoom, or PTZ, camera technology to improve situational awareness for first responders in the city, said John Autry, a company project manager who worked on the deployment.

Autry said Norfolk city council officials wanted to extend the reach of its first responders into troubled areas throughout the city. A video surveillance solution specifically was chosen as a force multiplier in order to have more “eyes and ears on the street and keep some of the higher crime areas of the city safer,” he said.

The city wanted a solution that used both hardwired and wireless camera systems to capture video data. Autry said EF Johnson would supply the wireless components, which support communications in the 2.4, 4.9 and 5.8 GHz range. The network is 802.11 compliant, so it supports point-to-point and point to multi-point mesh technologies, Autry said.

EF Johnson will install nine of the third-party PTZ cameras. The company’s broadband access points will let existing cameras connect wirelessly to a centralized light pole where video feeds are stored; the footage then is sent through a local cable provider back to a central command video storage server. As system integrator, EF Johnson will address all service-related issues for the system, so the city only has to deal with one point of contact, Autry said.

“In addition, our wireless devices can down the road can give the city the ability to let an officer in a vehicle log in via a secure access point and be able to view the video in real time,” he said. “This includes the ability to tilt, zoom and control the camera’s angle.”

The company expects to implement the system by the end of the year, Autry said.

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