Not every enterprise needs to worry about an officer losing his or her door keys while pursuing a perpetrator. But many chief security officers with keys and locks could learn from the Temple Terrace Police Department.
It had no way to track entry into secured areas, and the department needed to improve security. Existing mechanical locks had been in place since the building’s construction, and there was no accountability for keys distributed over the years. “The most important access we needed to track was the entry into the evidence/property room,” said Deputy Chief Patricia Powers.” We also needed to have locks on the exterior doors and elevator that could not be tampered with to limit unauthorized after hours access to the offices and storage areas.” The department needed a complete security solution that was also economical.
Solution
Powers began working with integrator Practical Products Group, a Videx (Corvallis, Ore.) access partner, on building security. The CyberLock access control system was suggested as a solution. After further research, the department decided to replace their mechanical locks with that system.
The cylinders were installed in the holding facility, evidence room, exterior doors, offices, storage rooms and elevator switches. Requiring neither wiring nor battery at the lock, the cylinders are powered by the battery within the key. This was a decisive factor for the police department’s implementation of the system because it meant they could install a complete access control system without the expense of hard wiring.
Powers noted that before the system was installed, officers carried a large ring full of keys that were not only noisy and cumbersome, but also expensive to replace if dropped during a pursuit. Security risks also arose with the loss of an officer’s key ring. Now, officers carry a single CyberKey for access throughout the department, and security is not threatened due to a “lost key” function provided by the software.
The police department has the ability to view reports that show who accessed specific doors and areas, providing them with a high level of security at their facility. There are plans to expand the system, adding padlocks to the police department’s impound areas.
Tying together access control, egress safety, building management and more makes financial and security sense. In some applications, access security and egress safety features are being combined into systems that also generate data for asset tracking or personnel scheduling. These and many other applications are reshaping the role of the opening and providing solutions that can be "dollarized." The resulting economic benefits are making electrified solutions more easily affordable for correctional institutions as well as other enterprises by generating a much larger payback.
