New Security Systems: Someone's Watching You

Las Vegas and Chicago invest in hi-tech to keep an eye on facilities

By Rachel Wimberly -- Tradeshow Week, 5/14/2007

Earlier this year, four men broke into the Las Vegas Convention Center in the middle of the night in hopes of grabbing some high-ticket items from the showfloor of World of Concrete — flat-screen TVs, DVD players and laptop computers. Little did they know their every move was being tracked by a series of high-tech cameras.

A security dispatcher immediately called convention center security guards and Las Vegas police, and the chase was on through the center's darkened halls.

The thieves didn't stand a chance against the recently updated pan, zoom and tilt cameras covering every inch of the facility.

"The dispatcher did a great job and used the camera system to see where they were going and track them on video," said Richard Feenstra, physical security supervisor at the center. "It wouldn't have been possible a few years ago."

The upgraded cameras are just one facet of a $2.5 million effort to modernize the center's security system.

There are now 250 cameras that reach all of the outlying service centers at the LVCC, as well as the service halls, exhibit areas and points of entry. With the enhancement, scheduled to phase in over the next five years, an additional 500 cameras will be installed.

"The cameras are very useful because they are a force multiplier and a good technology," Feenstra said. "They've improved so much. We used to have VCRs and now we have digital video, which allows us to have a longer time recording and makes searching video easier."

The cameras are also useful if there's a medical emergency or a safety concern, such as a door left open, freight blocking aisles or smokers sneaking cigarettes in the completely non-smoking facility.

"It's not just about catching people who are suspicious," Feenstra added.

The 3 million square foot campus is watched over from a central control room located in the Main Concourse. The control room is staffed 24 hours a day, with at least three dispatch officers on duty at all times monitoring fire alarms, access control areas and just simply keeping an eye on things. There are also two investigators walking the floors at all times.

Other high-tech gadgetry that's made the center easier to watch includes magnetic swipe cards for access control.

"It allows us to monitor areas and know who people are going into the area," Feenstra said. It operates through a distributed antennae system and 36 different wireless positioning systems.

Going high-tech has caused its share of headaches — one of the biggest being the integration of all the (software and hardware) programs. "We try to find things that have open architecture, and we are careful to not get locked into a particular product," Feenstra said. "Technology is moving so fast."

Sometimes low-tech is just as viable an option. The center often uses Sky Watch, a trailer-mounted 22-foot mobile observation platform, to keep an eye on parking lots and freight areas. "One person can monitor what it took four or five people to do," said Ray Suppe, LVCC security director.

Laurence Mulcrone, chief of staff for Chicago's Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority, has the daunting task of watching more than 7.5 million sq. ft. under the authority's control.

Besides McCormick Place, including the newly-built West Building, there's also Navy Pier, Corporate Center, Hyatt Regency McCormick Place Hotel (owned by the MPEA) and the Energy Center.

Lucky for Mulcrone, in April the MPEA and Mayor Richard M. Daley unveiled a new state-of-the-art command center in McCormick Place that will make his job much easier.

"It's very, very exciting. We are spending $6 million on it, and it was built at 120-percent capacity so we can expand," Mulcrone said.

The command center was constructed in the North Building and will also oversee the new West Building, which has 470,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space and 250,000 sq. ft. of meeting space and is set to open in August.

When the West building opens, it will have surveillance cameras monitoring the North, South and Lakeside buildings, as well as the Hyatt, and they all will feed their signals directly into the command center, linked to the city's Operation Emergency Management Center.

Along with the new command center and new building, Mulcrone said that, like the LVCC, there will be a lot more cameras. "I was able to convince the decision-makers that more cameras meant less officers on foot patrol, but there would still be a presence," he added.

The new cameras have numerous advantages, according to Mulcrone: They are Internet protocol-connected, less expensive, more powerful and have greater clarity.

"We did a lot of testing and visited at least a dozen facilities to see other cameras and control rooms," he added.

Other tech innovations throughout McCormick Place include 62 automatic defibrillators that can be connected directly to the control room as soon as someone opens one of the doors.

"We've had four saves already," Mulcrone said. "They've been very successful, and we've proved that."

The fire alarms, elevators and sprinkler systems also have direct tie-ins to the control room.

Mulcrone said the most important security device remains the people who work in the building. "The customer service aspect is what we focus on," he added. "When people see security we want them to see more than just a security guard."