Many cities attempting to revitalize their downtown areas and transform them into vibrant urban centers know that the first step is to reduce crime. With the creation of citywide surveillance networks that give law enforcement around-the-clock pictures of potential incidents, cities like Wilkes-Barre, Pa. and Baltimore, Md. have successfully rejuvenated their downtown areas and boosted overall economic activity. 

After visiting several other cities that also had success in slashing crime rates and improving conditions for businesses and residents, both Baltimore and Wilkes-Barre (pictured here) invested in security technology from DVTel Inc. to drive their surveillance networks. DVTel’s intelligent Security Operations Center software creates a common operational picture that enables security personnel to capture, manage, analyze, integrate, and then act on previously unorganized and overly complex data.

At Wilkes-Barre Police headquarters, the security command center will soon monitor nearly 300 DVTel Altitude PTZ dome and fixed IP cameras, using the iSOC platform. All the DVTel cameras are capable of producing dual-stream H.264/MPEG-4 video as well as featuring bi-directional audio for capturing complete details of a scene.

Police in Baltimore use iSOC at the city’s state-of-the-art Citiwatch Atrium Control Center, where video from more than 400 cameras from five high-crime neighborhoods, the central business district and city-owned housing projects is accessed. Police also manage the cameras using the DVTel network video management system within iSOC at five police station monitoring centers.

Other cities have used DVTel technology as part of their investments in local infrastructure, such as transportation venues, as a crucial part of stimulating economic activity. The city of Irvine, Calif., chose DVTel as its video management solution for its $27 million Irvine Transportation Center. There, 40 DVTel IP cameras — a combination of fixed and PTZ cameras — monitor the facility’s four-level parking garage and exterior, as well as the transportation center’s Code Blue emergency call stations in the garage stairwells. — Contributed by Paul Smith, executive vice president of marketing, DVTel Inc.