City of Cadillac

Michigan

The City of Cadillac was in need of a high-performance video monitoring solution that would enable real-time surveillance of activity “hot-spots” throughout the city without having to run cable and fiber throughout the city.

The Problem:

The City of Cadillac was looking for a way to provide more safety and security to citizens that utilized the common city walkways and parks near Lake Cadillac while also introducing deterrents that would minimize theft and vandalism to city property. Overall the city wanted to monitor the following:

1. City Skate Park - Commonly used by the youth of the community
2. Pavilion – During Christmas season, the city provided a Christmas nativity scene that was vandalized at least once every season
3. Fountain – A strong landmark for the City, this site needed to be protected from vandalism and monitored for citizen safety
4. Clock Tower – A camera mounted on top of the Clock tower provided real-time surveillance of the city’s busiest intersection, enabling police forces to replay traffic accidents with a bird’s eye view
5. Sound Garden – The city Sound Garden park needed to be monitored constantly to protect citizen safety

In addition, the City wanted to raise it’s profile on the Internet, and wanted to enable real-time video surveillance of the city for would be persons interested in relocating their homes or businesses to the City.

The Solution:

Vision Technologies worked with ISI to develop and roll-out a high-speed HP rackmount server for controlling the cameras and storing the video. In addition, ISI deployed 6 Cisco Aironet 1500 outdoor mesh unit antennas and a single Cisco 2006 wireless controller to manage the entire wireless mesh network. This mesh technology enabled the radios to communicate with each-other, enabling the system to calculate the fastest path back to City Hall. This intelligence on the network also enabled the system to detect failures and reroute communication on the fly without disturbing video flow. Lastly, because the entire system is IP-based, the city has the ability to post live video feeds directly to any web-site, which really helps web-site visitors to see the wonderful things Cadillac has to offer.

States Jeff Hawke, the city’s chief of police “This system provides us with the ability to see what’s going on around the city and use our scarce resources where they’re needed most. While we can’t be everywhere, the system is always on making sure our citizens and their property are safe and secure.