Axis IP video system to foster effective vigilance at the El Molar police headquarters

The control centre in municipal police building is equipped with an advanced video surveillance system

Mission

In early 2006, the municipalities of the Sierra Norte de Madrid suffered from a huge wave of thefts in the town halls and CAPIs (centres for public access to internet), with 25 out of the 42 towns of the Sierra being affected. This situation, which also partially involved urban vandalism, resulted in a plan to install an analogue video surveillance system for protection of the main municipal building and neighbouring side buildings. At the time, the Municipal Police of El Molar employed 4 officers.

Solution

Starting in 2008, after contacting CIS, a company specialised in solutions for municipal councils, it was decided to migrate the analogue CCTV system to IP video and to correspondingly extend the system in connection with the construction of the new municipal sports facilities. The corporation verified the benefits in connection with the use of IP video and decided to gradually extend the system and to simultaneously expand it in connection with the demands and desires of the municipal council.

Result

In May 2010, the new building of the municipal police was inaugurated; it houses the new Centre for Municipal Control that centralises an IP video system based on Axis products with 54 video sources installed in different municipal side buildings and public streets.

El Molar is one of the main municipalities of the Sierra Norte de Madrid, with a population of approximately 8,500 inhabitants. In early 2006, the municipalities of this region suffered from various acts of theft and vandalism, which showed the lack of security in this rural district. The mayors of these municipalities decided to reinforce the municipal police by means of additional officers, and to use solutions based on new technologies.

The municipal council of El Molar installed an analogue system of video surveillance that would help to protect its side buildings. It also installed cameras in the main streets of the municipality in order to control the traffic, and it installed cameras at the church ‘Iglesia de la Asunción', because this is the zone where groups of juveniles meet and occasionally perform acts of urban violence.

In 2008, the municipal council of El Molar contacted Consultores e Instaladores de Seguridad (CIS), an Axis partner. CIS was responsible for the video installation at El Molar, and the first suggestion made by the responsible persons was to migrate the analogue installation to IP video.

During the construction period of the new sports facilities, they also detected destruction and theft of material. This was a large construction project with a high budget and required control of the block 24 hours per day. CIS was contacted in connection with the construction of the municipal police building. This building, equipped with an advanced system of video surveillance, houses the municipal Control Centre, where the police officers may access both live and recorded images.

The El Molar installations include several Axis network camera models

The CIS Hitcom technology platform covers the areas of security and commercial control, with the following basic characteristics:

Open platform that includes multiple services: access control, energy savings in connection with lighting, air conditioning control, video surveillance, etc., designed for maximum exploitation of the installed infrastructures and incorporating several automated functions.

All applications and services are integrated into a unique graphical user interface, which uses interactive 3D plans and provides self-developing and easy operation for each type of user.

Furthermore, CIS developed an interactive map application based on Google Earth in order to enable rapid localisation of any incident within the municipal boundaries. Currently, there are 4 municipal buildings (municipal police, town hall, tourist office, and social and sports services) connected by means of a wireless network structure with a bandwidth of 180 MB, which can be easily extended. The images of the cameras are continuously taken in the H.264 format over a period of 24 hours, and are stored on 3 Hewlett-Packard servers.

The El Molar installations include several Axis network camera models: AXIS Q6032-E, AXIS P3343, AXIS 209FD; AXIS 215 PTZ, and AXIS 212 PTZ. In addition, AXIS M7001 and AXIS 241Q Video Encoders are also in use.

The corporation is positive about the benefits of using IP video and plans to incorporate operators with specialisation in visualisation as well as to install a monitor in the police vehicles that are connected to the IP video system. They also intend to extend the video network by means of inclusion of IP cameras in the public library as well as in all public educational centres.