Integrators who execute security projects in sporting venues now have an award for the work they do — the Golden Eagle Award. The award, sponsored by SDM, is from the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security (NCS4).

The University of Southern Mississippi is home to the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security and the Golden Eagles. This award recognizes excellence in the safety and security aspects of sports venues by their designers, builders and installers. The award honors the best project among all nominees each year. The naming of the Golden Eagle Award also recognizes the commitment and work that the University of Southern Mississippi does in contributing to safety and security in the global spectator sports industry.

The case studies from the two finalists are presented on these pages. Their case studies will be presented to attendees of the 2014 National Sports Safety and Security Conference & Exhibition, during a morning session on July 8, 2014. The audience then will select one of them as the second annual Golden Eagle Award winner. Learn more at www.ncs4.com/conference/awards

NCS4 Golden Eagle Award Nominee – MicroPower Technologies

Sports venue: American Airlines Center, Dallas

Dallas-based American Airlines Center is described as a beautiful, fan-friendly venue that combines architecture and technology. The venue is host to the Dallas Stars NHL hockey team, the Dallas Mavericks NBA basketball team, and many entertainment events.

Joe Heinlein, IT director for the American Airlines Center, was looking for a surveillance solution to monitor the 13 access points for the parking lots surrounding the facility. The center wanted to be able to closely observe cash parking lot collections to ensure that employees were following protocol.

Heinlein also wanted to be prepared for ongoing construction in the area surrounding the American Airlines Center, which often resulted in parking lots closing and reopening at any time. He estimated that cabling and trenching were an expensive option to begin with and, coupled with the fact that construction impacted different lots at different times, the center needed a surveillance alternative that was somewhat portable.

The IT staff worked with systems integrator partner, Global Security Integration (GSI), to find a cost-effective alternative to traditional camera options. The team ultimately determined that solar, wireless surveillance solutions from San Diego-based MicroPower Technologies would be an ideal option for the center’s requirements.

Working closely with GSI and the American Airlines Center team, MicroPower delivered a comprehensive solution with cameras placed at strategic ingress and egress points around the center. Each solar wireless IP camera was positioned to provide close-up monitoring of parking ticket transactions, as well as tally the number of vehicles entering the lot.

More than a dozen cameras were deployed at distances ranging from 65 yards to 550 yards, and each transmitted video back to a series of video hubs that utilized MicroPower’s proprietary TrustLinx™ reliable wireless air interface. All cameras and hubs were outfitted with directional antennas to maximize range and eliminate interference caused by other wireless traffic.

The hubs were configured to monitor the video streams through the XProtect video management system from Milestone Systems, which was already in place. MicroPower’s surveillance solution surpassed the expectations of the American Airlines Center management, which immediately recognized a return on the system investment and prevented employee theft.

“We wanted to provide greater security for both customers and venue employees as well as have better visibility of parking collections to compare vehicle counts with parking revenues,” Heinlein said.

Brian Bowen, vice president of finance, American Airlines Center, added, “Since they have been in place, the MicroPower cameras have kept a close eye on employee behavior, and we’ve found that cash collections have actually increased. The MicroPower system has provided an immediate and significant ROI for the facility. We also have a cost-effective means to move cameras as our parking situation changes.”

NCS4 Golden Eagle Award Nominee – Arecont Vision

Sports venue: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.

Los Angeles-based Arecont Vision was selected by MetLife Stadium’s security management team to provide comprehensive, undisrupted video coverage throughout every part of its venue. Arecont Vision megapixel cameras were deployed to ensure wide area coverage with extreme detail and the ability to electronically zoom into live and recorded footage without affecting wide area surveillance.

“The Arecont Vision megapixel cameras installed at MetLife Stadium provide coverage of the stadium bowl, gates and plaza areas, with excellent cost-efficiency by using far fewer cameras versus legacy IP VGA or analog cameras,” said Scott Schafer, executive vice president, Arecont Vision. “Because the number of cameras is reduced, the system can be more effectively managed. The key attributes to a solution like this are excellent image quality to identify activity and people, frame rates to see the action, day/night video capabilities, reduced network and storage expense via H.264 compression and Power over Ethernet (PoE) to reduce power cabling costs.”

The system was designed by Corporate Security Services Inc., Edison, N.J. The Arecont Vision megapixel cameras are managed using Genetec Security Center, a unified video management system (VMS), which is controlled from a centralized security command center in MetLife Stadium.

The Arecont Vision megapixel cameras that have been deployed at MetLife Stadium include MegaVideo® compact 10-megapixel (MP) cameras located inside the bowl to monitor exterior seating areas; SurroundVideo® panoramic 8MP cameras to provide 180-deg. coverage of all entrances; and MegaDome® 2 3MP cameras with remote focus, remote zoom and wide dynamic range located in the stadium’s security entrance areas.

The company’s MegaVideo Compact Series box cameras are available in 1.3MP to 10MP resolutions with features that include dual H.264/MJPEG encoding, fast frame rates, privacy masking, pixel binning to increase light sensitivity in 3MP, 5MP and 10MP models, extended motion detection grid, flexible cropping and PoE. 

SurroundVideo Series megapixel cameras from Arecont Vision are all-in-one 180-deg. and 360-deg. panoramic solutions that are available in 8MP, 12MP WDR, 20MP and 40MP resolutions. Housed in environmentally rated IP66 domes, the units feature dual H.264/MJPEG encoding, true day/night functionality with IR cut filter.

 MegaDome 2 all-in-one cameras with remote focus and remote zoom are available in 1080p, 3MP, 5MP and 10MP resolutions. Features include an IP66 dome chassis with a 3-axis camera gimbal, dual H.264/MJPEG encoding, integrated megapixel vari-focal lens, and more.