Trouble Goes No Further

Redstone Arsenal, located in Huntsville, Ala., had been experiencing a number of unauthorized entries onto its facility due to faulty or inadequate physical perimeter security measures. One such incident happened in May 2008, in which a passenger vehicle chased by police breached security at Redstone Arsenal and ended on the federal facility, killing an innocent man. Redstone, according to its website, is home to the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, the Space and Missile Defense Command, numerous program executive offices, and major components of the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Missile Defense Agency.

A number of gates were highlighted as highest risk in the initial scope of work, requiring Smith & Wesson Security Solutions’ assistance to determine the appropriate security measures based on: site security analysis, threat assessment, and traffic assessment. Because the unauthorized entries were often due to driver error and presented little threat to the facility, Redstone wanted a solution that stopped vehicles while reducing the likelihood of injury to the driver or other occupants of the vehicle.

Smith & Wesson^™, with headquarters in Franklin, Tenn., was subcontracted by Williams Electric, Joppa, Ala., to perform the analysis and assessments. Based on the outcome, it was recommended that all Redstone access control points be equipped with the patented ASTM M50 rated GRAB^® final denial barrier, control panels with emergency fast operation, and an over-watch area located before the barriers. In numerous real-world impacts, the GRAB barrier has effectively stopped vehicles weighing up to 15,000 lb. traveling at speeds of up to 50 mph. All gates except one would also include a canopy, guard building, and Smith & Wesson’s proprietary Over-speed Directional Detection System (ODDS^®) with audible and visual alarms.

Smith & Wesson provided all the necessary site plans, drawings, traffic control plans and a detailed project schedule. During the entire project, Redstone was kept informed through weekly status meetings with the result that the gates were commissioned on schedule.

Redstone continues to experience unauthorized entries; over the past 18 months Smith & Wesson was made aware of two instances where the GRAB barrier was deployed to arrest suspect vehicles. The vehicles were successfully stopped, drivers were taken into custody with no injuries, and the base remained safe. The GRAB was reset and back in operation within hours of deployment.

For more information, call Smith & Wesson at (877) 260-4722 or visit www.smith-wesson.com.

— Contributed by Smith & Wesson^TM

Police Headquarters Secured Like an Enterprise

The City of Maitland, Fla., opened its new Police Department headquarters in November 2009. The new facility includes certified holding facilities, evidence processing, secure parking and prisoner transfer facilities — all supported by up-to-date equipment and technology. The new station is hardened against hurricane and high-wind damage and has a generator capable of sustaining full operations support for 72 hours without refueling.

A requirement for the new police headquarters facility was that it needed an enterprise-level, integrated security solution with GUI command and control, with the ability to be cost-effectively expanded to other city facilities. The solution was Access It!® Universal access control software from RS2 Technologies of Munster, Ind.

The software included central ID badging, door access control and video integration, and was installed by integrator Commercial Systems Group, Apopka, Fla.  Operating a certified holding and prisoner transfer facility required that the software control interlocking gates, rollup and “mantrap” doors, and that it have fire alarm interface. According to Bill McEachnie, deputy chief of police, “The RS2 system provides the City of Maitland’s new Police Headquarters an enterprise-level security platform with intuitive access control and video surveillance that is state-of-the-art and effective while remaining user friendly.”

Government and public entity facilities are a significant market for RS2. In addition to the city of Maitland, RS2 access control systems can be found in federal, state and local government facilities from Tacoma, Wash. to Washington D.C. In addition to its software, RS2 offers a hardware line that includes a wide range of system control processors, input/output modules, multiplexers, card readers and proximity and smart cards. RS2 is a Microsoft Certified Partner with ISV (Independent Software Vendor) software solutions competency status.

For more information, call RS2 at (877) 682-3532 or visit www.rs2tech.com.

—    Contributed by RS2 Technologies

PHOTO COURTESY OF RS2 TECHNOLOGIES

Solution for GSA Facilities Helps Them Meet Gov’t Directives

Brivo Systems, Bethesda, Md., and ADT Security, Boca Raton, Fla., collaborated recently on the implementation of a Web-based access control solution for five federal facilities managed by the General Services Administration and located in the Detroit and the Chicago areas. The Brivo ACS OnSite Aparato solution assists the GSA in fulfilling Homeland Security/Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12), which is intended to enhance security and reduce identity fraud at all federal facilities by establishing common identification standards for employees and contractors.

The GSA project employs Brivo’s Aparato network appliance, a GSA FIPS 201-appproved solution at each of the five facilities. Aparato is readily upgradeable to a full SaaS configuration, which will give the GSA the needed system flexibility for future HSPD-12 implementations.

The project began with the McNamara Federal Building, a 27-story structure in downtown Detroit that serves as home to many federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration.

 Brivo and ADT also were awarded a contract to implement a similar system at four GSA-operated buildings in the Chicago area. Among the five facilities, card readers will be installed at 55 access points to be used by 8,000 employees from about 50 federal agencies.

Jeremy Niksic, a GSA physical security specialist, said the agency wanted a system that was open and compliant with FIPS 201, the federal government standard that specifies Personal Identity Verification (PIV) requirements for federal employees and contractors. He said the GSA also wanted to be able to use the latest PIV 2 standard for government-issued smart cards that provide enhanced interoperability and unify identity verification for use in both physical and logical access control.

“We felt that ADT and Brivo were fully capable of meeting all the provisions of those requirements,” he said. Niksic added that the new systems put GSA in position to transition towards a full cloud-computing solution in the future.

For more information, call Brivo toll–free at 866-692-7486 (option 1) or e-mail sales@brivo.com. To view a demo, visit www.brivo.com/demo.

—    Contributed by ADT and Brivo

Never a Nuisance at Utilities

PROTECH/Protection Technologies Inc., Sparks, Nev., provides security solutions for many utilities around the country, including electric utility substations that face economic, human and legal liability risk. The company acknowledges that a major challenge utilities face is how to enhance their video monitoring so the focus is on real intruder alarms rather than nuisance alarms.

“Utility companies use video to perform daily operations, but cannot rely on it alone to provide their security for them, especially if they are attempting to use the video motion built into the camera,” Protech stated in a news release. The other three major types of technologies that are often used in outdoor environments, according to the company, are passive/active infrared sensors, conventional dual-technology sensors, and video analytics. “All four technologies are great for intruder detection, but not great for alerting the guard or monitoring company to look at the live video and see another nuisance alarm from them,” Protech stated.

Protech’s solution is its PIRAMID XL2 outdoor motion sensor. It provides reliable security with the lowest nuisance alarm rate possible, the company stated. Rain, sleet, snow, fog, ice and wind do not affect the PIRAMID XL2’s performance or reliability. In addition, moving vegetation, blowing debris, swinging signs, vibration and randomly moving objects are filtered out by the PIRAMID XL2 sensor. The XL2 is also not affected by extreme temperatures; it has an operating temperature range of -30 deg. F to 150 deg. F.

The XL2 is encased in a rugged, weatherproof IP65 metal housing that shields the unit from RFI/EMI interference, rain, snow, wind and sun loading. The sensor has enhanced bird/animal immunity control. All of these features contribute to a sensor that is virtually nuisance-alarm-free, Protech stated.

“Using the PIRAMID XL2 outdoor motion sensors to alert the guards monitoring the video wall has enabled the utility company to use their guards more efficiently and effectively because virtually the only alarms they see are real intruder alarms,” says Dan Tullis, staff engineer for TNT Solutions, commenting on an installation for which the end-user utility preferred to be unnamed.

For more information, call PROTECH/Protection Technologies Inc. at 800-428-9662 or visit www.protechusa.com.

—    Contributed by Protech/Protection Technologies Inc.