Agenda - Council Work Session - 05/27/2014

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CC Work Session 2. 2. Meeting Date: 05/27/2014 Information Title: Video Camera and Server Upgrades for Police Squads and Municipal Center With an Update of Proposed Capital Equipment Purchases for Budget Years 2015-2017 Purpose/Background: Purpose: To report on the camera use and support needs of the police department, municipal center and parking structure and to report on estimated costs for these needs in relation to overall capital equipment needs of the city for years 2015-2017 and possible funding mechanisms. Police The police squad car cameras were purchased in 2006 and are not going to be supported by the manufacturer in the near future. There has been several improvements to cameras and video systems since the department purchased the current system. The server that stores the squad videos is also reaching its end -of -life. Each squad car currently has two cameras, with one facing forward and one covering the backseat of the squad. The police department is looking to replace the existing system with the VELM (Video Evidence Lifecycle Management) solution offered by Visual Pro 360 and their partners. This new system has five cameras per squad, adding a left and rights side camera and an a rear camera. This all-inclusive solution also includes the replacement of current squad car laptops. The new system enhances safety for the officers and lessens liability for the city. The capabilities of this new system will be discussed in further detail. Also, some of the two camera systems in Fire Department vehicles will be placed. Municipal Building The municipal building currently has eight cameras on a stand alone system. Six cameras are within the PD and two are outside of the building itself. The PD cameras include interview rooms, evidence room, and detention area. None of these cameras are digital at this time. The new system will improve the quality of the videos. The server that hosts these cameras is no longer working and has created a security risk inside the PD, causing the need to be replaced immediately. There are currently no cameras within the Admin/Public side of the Municipal Center. Eight additional cameras would be added to monitor public entrances and other high traffic areas. The Anoka County License Center is not included because they have their own security system. Parking Garage The parking ramp currently houses 46 security cameras. Thirty analog cameras were in original build and 16 digital cameras were added during the recent expansion. The original 30 cameras within the parking structure are not digital and record at a low quality due to storage constraints. The original 30 cameras record to a Honeywell server located in the parking ramp. This system is the same age as the one in PD, while the 16 expansion camera videos are stored on a separate recorder located in City Hall. Having multiple systems makes it difficult to retrieve video. A current park camera will also be added to the system. The entire project will move all captured video to one server instead of the five that are currently used. The new VELM server can also store other media such as photographs and recorded audio. Also note, that all existing cameras can be used with the new system. The IT staff recommends that we use our existing cameras and replace them on an as -needed basis. A representative of Visual Pro 360 will be attending the work session to review the proposal and answer questions that council may have.