Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, an iconic amusement park in California, recently upgraded its security infrastructure by unifying video and access control park-wide, to allow the park's security team to speed up investigations and emergency response. Touted as the "Coney Island of the West", the seaside park features about 40 rides, 30 restaurants, 15 retail shops, arcades, miniature golf, bowling, and conference and banquet facilities.
As an admission-free park, guests can enter through multiple entrances to buy food, purchase ride tickets, or simply walk around and enjoy the surroundings. Unlike gated parks which typically have a main security checkpoint, the park’s security team must be hyper-vigilant to spot potential security threats before they can develop. Security operators constantly monitor video cameras and work directly with field officers to handle issues.
While video surveillance technology helped security teams watch over the large park, aging equipment began compromising their efficiency. As the search for a new video management system began, the team prioritized openness, reliability, and a vendor’s reputation in the market. Moreover, their aging access control system would soon need replacing too.
The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk team implemented a Genetec Security Center platform to unify video surveillance, access control, and other systems and sensors.
With their new system in place, the team at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk manages more than 400 cameras and 220 doors across the entire amusement park. From one single interface, operators can monitor cameras and doors, respond to alarms, handle investigations, and export and share video evidence.
If motion is detected near a perimeter after opening hours, the platform will trigger an alarm and display live video and a 10-second replay of the event on a dispatcher’s monitor. The team has also expedited investigations by sharing system access with other departments. This includes food service, loss prevention and ticket sales who can handle their own preliminary investigations, if needed.
