New Orleans protects citizens with Unified IP Genetec Security Center Platform

The new platform is integrated with other public safety solutions, as a Briefcam analysis system. All information is sent to a central command center, speeding up emergency responses.

The city of New Orleans has relied on the Unified IP platform of Genetec, Security Center, to improve public safety and collaboration across the city.

With some 400.000 Residents, is the most populous in the state of Louisiana. Like other big cities, strives to improve the public safety of its citizens and 1,2 millions of visitors flock to the French Quarter for Mardi Gras celebrations.

As part of an improvement plan (Citywide Public Safety Improvement Plan), which included the deployment of a new public safety system in the city and the construction of a Real-Time Crime Center (Real-Time Crime Center – RTCC), Homeland Security and New Orleans Emergencies (New Orleans Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness – NOHSEP) chose the genetec Security Center unified platform to support all agencies in the city.

With this solution, THE NOHSEP agency has saved policemen near 2.000 hours of research work on foot in just one year.

“It can take more than an hour for a police officer to visit business locations, talk to the owners, watch videos, find what you're looking for, get a copy on the USB keys, drive back to the compound and then send it", explains George Barlow Brown, NEW Orleans RTCC IT Manager.

Now, the team can easily retrieve evidence from more than 325 video cameras and one hundred automatic license plate recognition (Alpr) (60 of which are Security Center AutoVu cameras) Real-Time Crime Center. The new security platform is integrated with other public safety solutions, as a system of analysis of Briefcam and a CAD system. All this information is routed to a central command center, speeding up the emergency response.

“Our operators do the full research work, directly from Security Center. It's one of the most intuitive solutions I've ever seen. We can show up to six video tiles and press 'sync video’ to see multiple angles of the same scene playing at the same time. We can select the segment we need and export. Each segment of 10 minutes of all video tiles is archived for later viewing”, explains Barlow Brown.

The city launched a platinum version of the SafeCam project, that allows companies to share access to external video cameras with RTCC.

Using the Genetec Federation feature, the NOHSEP team can access the video from the systems of participating companies. These can be identified by discrete signage at their main entrances. This tells field officials that this business has shared its exterior cameras with the RTCC, and there's no reason to disturb the establishment or its customers. The officer can simply call RTCC operators to get the evidence they need.

It is also leveraging security investments to improve city life. On the one hand, RTCC operates a backup emergency operations center for the city of New Orleans and, on the other hand, NOHSEP team has shared videos with other city departments, such as the Water and Sewerage Board, so that they can determine the rate at which an intersection is flooded.

Brown and his team also have motion detection alarms installed on cameras located in front of some known illegal dumping sites. When someone throws debris improperly, the team can proactively notify the Department of Sanitation so they can collect the debris.

As plans continue to evolve, RTCC team leverages new technology to keep the city safer.

“With this platform, we're extending greater efficiency to the officers who respond, and we're also forging stronger partnerships with community. together, we're all working smarter and faster to keep New Orleans safe “, Brown concludes.

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