Monroe County, part of Florida, encompasses the southernmost point of the continental United States. Comprising the Florida Keys and sections of the Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve, the county features predominantly uninhabited mainland territories along with a series of islands linked by the U.S. Highway 1, concluding 150 miles southwest in Key West.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office is tasked with law enforcement duties across the area, which includes the management of three detention centres located in Key West, Marathon, and Plantation Key. The main detention facility, situated in Key West, can accommodate up to 597 inmates, while the Marathon site holds 57, and the Plantation Key facility supports 46 beds.
Implementing a key management system
The nature of detention facilities necessitates stringent key control and accountability measures. Enhancing these existing measures with an automated key management system is essential for operational security, efficiency, and effectiveness.
Ensuring security within these facilities involves clear protocols across various domains, including conducting headcounts, managing inmate transfers, maintaining visitor logs, and performing cell inspections. Among these protocols, key control policies are crucial and require rigorous adherence. Staff are restricted from discussing key control procedures, except with authorised personnel and outside the hearing range of inmates. These protocols dictate that absolute control over keys, including precise records of issuance and immediate reporting of any discrepancies, is mandatory for each facility.
Morse Watchmans KeyWatcher solution
This robust system, crafted from stainless steel, is tamper-proof and protected by alarms
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office adopted the KeyWatcher® Key Control System from Morse Watchmans to streamline key management. This system, relying on authorised user codes for key release, ensures compliance with key control protocols. It replaces traditional lock boxes with a space-efficient, illuminated key storage cabinet that tracks each key’s usage history, complete with user details, date, and time of transactions. This robust system, crafted from stainless steel, is tamper-proof and protected by alarms.
Accompanying the KeyWatcher system, the KeyPro® Performance Software offers a user-friendly interface for real-time data monitoring and customised reporting, ensuring a constantly updated overview of key movements via user codes or biometric data.
Enhanced access control
The KeyWatcher system, featuring a fingerprint access option, was installed across the Monroe County detention facilities. By controlling and monitoring key access and allocation, the system assigns various access levels to staff, promoting meticulous key control and reducing the risk of human error. The KeyPro software complements the system by providing instant alerts and configurable programming, maintaining transparency and accountability in key management.
By integrating the Morse Watchmans KeyWatcher Key Control System and KeyPro software, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office has significantly improved compliance with standard operating procedures for key management. The inclusion of biometric (fingerprint) access and time release functionalities has proven exceptionally advantageous, facilitating rigorous security measures and operational integrity across the facilities.
Try our KeyWatcher Configurator tool to design your ideal system to meet your requirements (Note: if using a mobile device, please turn the phone to landscape mode.)
