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CCTV & Surveillance

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Updated: June 23rd, 2006 12:13 PM PDT

From Guards to a $20M Camera System at = Houston=20 Park-Ride Lots

Houston's MTA approves budget for $20 million to be = spent on=20 wireless surveillance and traffic contr

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RAD SALLEE, StaffThe Houston = Chronicle

When the Metropolitan Transit Authority canceled its security guard = contract=20 for Park & Ride lots in January 2005, it replaced the on-site guards = with=20 roving Metro police and a promise to add surveillance cameras.

Now those officers are about to get that long-awaited helping hand. = The Metro=20 board voted last week to buy a $20 million wireless system for video=20 surveillance and traffic signal control.

It will enable one officer in the Houston TranStar traffic control = center to=20 monitor activity at 25 Park & Ride lots and the Hillcroft Transit = Center,=20 said Erik Oistad, Metro vice president for information technology.

The network also will monitor traffic signals at 156 intersections in = far=20 west Houston.

The equipment, from Pfeiffer & Son Inc., of La Porte, is to be in = service=20 by early next year.

Oistad said federal funds will cover $15 million of the cost, with = Metro=20 picking up the other $5 million.

The equipment's life is estimated at 10 years, but using guards would = have=20 cost Metro about $1 million a year for the same period, the agency=20 estimates.

The MetroNet system comprises 343 cameras, including pan-and-zoom and = ultra-wide-angle fisheye models, 150 remote-controllable security gates, = 110=20 emergency "blue phones," 22 public address systems, and the software to = operate=20 them.

Oistad said the software is programmable to recognize various kinds = of=20 suspicious activity and flag it for the person at the monitor, who could = not=20 otherwise keep track of input from so many cameras.

It can recognize movement of various sorts, colors, and even such = specific=20 occurrences as a person walking from car to car, or - during an Amber = Alert, for=20 instance - a large person standing beside a small one, he said.

The board watched a demonstration video shot at the Downtown Transit = Center.=20 Oistad said the software was programmed to alert the viewer if any of = three=20 things happened: a vehicle smaller than a bus parking in the bus bay, a=20 pedestrian entering the area reserved for buses, or an object being left = on the=20 loading dock for more than 30 seconds.

In the demonstration, a Metro officer drove his patrol car into the = bay,=20 strolled across the driveway to the dock and left a package. "Gotcha," = Oistad=20 said, as the computer drew a red square around each occurrence.

Some board members were skeptical.

"It seems like we're putting a $20 million system on one clerk," = Jackie=20 Freeman said.

"The effectiveness of the system is primarily going to be riding on = your=20 ability to program it for these incidents," he said. "Give me an example = of how=20 you would program it for a guy asking to borrow a cell phone and then = taking off=20 with it."

Metro Police Chief Tom Lambert replied that in such a case, the = victim would=20 report the theft on one of the blue phones and police would scroll back = the=20 video, which he said yields "evidence quality" images from up to 300 = feet.

"If we knew a person was in a blue Mercedes-Benz 280, we could go = back and=20 find the license plate number," Lambert said. The system also enables = the gates=20 to the lot to be locked remotely, he said.

Although there are no current plans to install cameras at the 156=20 intersections, the software will enable personnel at TranStar to monitor = and=20 control the traffic signals at these locations, said Metro spokeswoman = Raequel=20 Roberts.

Copyright 2005 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier = Inc. All=20 rights reserved.
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