Axis Cameras and Milestone VMS Offer a Comprehensive Plan for Monitoring Cities

The city of Dubuque (Iowa – United States) has installed near 1.400 multi-sensor cameras, Ptz, Panoramic and License Plate Recognition Axis to make your streets and parks safer. In addition, Networks of public safety cameras and traffic management have been linked to solve crimes and reduce road congestion.

Perched on the cliff along the Mississippi River, at the Iowa junction, Illinois and Wisconsin, Dubuque is a city rich in history, art, Culture & Recreation. It has been reinvented over the years, going from being a mining center, timber and shipbuilding to become the center of tourism, technology and publications that it is today. Along with this transition came the typical public safety and traffic management challenges found in most urban centers.

The city turned to its partner Racom, A System Integrator Specializing in Public Safety Communications, to develop technology for critical service 911, including a two-way radio system and microwave Ethernet cover to operate in areas where wiring was not available.

When vandals defaced a sculpture on display in Art on the River, an open-air art gallery along the Mississippi Riverwalk, se llamó a Racom para que instalara cámaras de video Axis y monitorear el área. “The cameras proved so useful that the city began funding additional equipment to remotely monitor other properties, From the port and marina to the city parking lots, Railway Stations, Parks and the shopping district”, explains Ken Fleege, Racom National Service Manager.

At the same time, The Department of Traffic was developing an independent network to address road safety issues. “Our early efforts to build a system of powered traffic signals were quite advanced for their time, But they had their fair share of trouble spotting vehicles, especially in adverse weather conditions such as snow and fog”, clarifies Dave Ness, Technical Civil Engineer from the City of Dubuque.

Centralized management

After several updates, Today, the city's traffic management system employs a combination of Axis radar and camera technologies to deliver robust vehicle detection and signal control. Cameras record traffic at intersections from multiple angles, providing police with an accurate tally of collisions and other accidents on the roads.

When Public Safety & Traffic decided to migrate to video management software (Vms) XProtect de Milestone Simultaneously, The two departments realized that running isolated video networks was adding unnecessary complexity to citywide security operations.

“We have more than 2.500 Axis cameras deployed throughout the city, including other local government entities that use Axis”, says Dave Ness. "Connecting our separate video networks of all government entities through Interconnect de Milestone Gives authorized users a way to view cameras across networks from a single login. This is especially critical for those who answer 911 calls.".

Dubuque's traffic management system goes far beyond pointing cameras at traffic queuing at an intersection. “We typically install four Axis Q16 Box Camera series devices to capture all four directions of traffic, as well as the signs”, adds Ness. “If there is good long-distance visibility, we'll add another four Q16s with telephoto lenses that look half a mile or more off the road to capture license plates and other details”.

Deploying Axis cameras with telephoto lenses the need to place them on every city block. “It's a really efficient way to get maximum coverage of our city's streets while minimizing our investment in hardware and all the associated maintenance costs”, says Ness.

Depending on the lines of sight available at a traffic light, Axis Q63 PTZ series cameras have been installed for additional coverage or even mount an Axis P38 panorama at a distance of 10,6 meters high to capture the entire intersection and approaches in a single field of view.

“How we captured so many angles, Both police and insurance companies rely on traffic videos to review accidents and determine who was at fault”.

Optimize calls to the 911

Racom is currently working with the city to link the call system 911 with Axis' multiple camera networks to accelerate emergency response. “When a call arrives at the center, it is entered into the CAD system, which will include the location of the call”, explains Ken Fleege. “That location is sent to the Milestone VMS, that creates a geofence around the cameras at that location and automatically displays them on the monitor”.

If the call is coming from a residential area where the city doesn't have cameras, Milestone System's XProtect VMS will geolocate the cameras that monitor the nearest major access roads.

“Because the video is transmitted in real time, Traffic can be observed and ambulances and other first responders can be directed to the quickest route to the scene”, Fleege adds. "And sometimes, Those minutes saved in travel time could save a life.".

Police also rely on the camera to stay on top of safety issues at the scene, such as downed power lines and chemical spills, When Responding to Accidents. often, la información recopilada puede ayudar a la policía a determinar quién tiene la culpa incluso antes que los agentes lleguen al lugar.

Plans are already in place to eventually disseminate the video to officers on the field. But for now, The video can only be reviewed once they return to the station and write their reports.

Improving City Operations

With the proliferation of Axis cameras across Dubuque, More city departments are finding uses for the information captured by this technology. For example, the Parking Division reviews video when motorists challenge parking meter violations or when they are towed for parking in restricted or illegal spaces.

Public Works monitors snow clearing and road treatment during winter storms to ensure corridors are safe to travel. From public transportation to public parks and recreation, maintenance of roads and bridges and quality control of watersheds, Fleege believes the city's network of cameras provides a wealth of information that can help departments discover ways they can improve city life for residents, Businesses & Visitors.

Although Dubuque continues to maintain four separate networks for traffic, Public Safety, County and School District Operations, Fleege says the plan is to link the four through the Milestone Interconnection. Users will continue to retain local control over their own network of Axis cameras for everyday use. But when events happen, Authorized parties will have easy access to all relevant live streams and archived videos, which will allow for greater situational awareness and shorter investigation timelines, no matter what network the cameras reside on.

 

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