Hanwha Vision‘s Video Surveillance Cameras Safeguard Anaheim’s Expansive Public-School District

Rich feature set of Q series cameras perfectly matched the district’s robust set of requirements

♦ Challenge

Located just outside of Los Angeles, the Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD) is a public-school district serving portions of the Orange County cities of Anaheim, Buena Park, Cypress, La Palma and Stanton. One of the largest school districts in California, AUHSD has an estimated 2,900 employees in 20 different facilities and, in total, serves approximately 29,000 students from grades 7 to 12. Despite its size and expanse, the district lacked a robust security camera system that could allow administrators to monitor or document incidents on campus. Additionally, as the district continued to grow, so did the seriousness of some of its security issues. After several security incidents and school shootings at other campuses across the U.S., the district faced mounting concerns from the community. AUHSD decided to strengthen its security infrastructure with a district-wide solution that would include IP security cameras at its center.

♦ Solution
After receiving $249 million towards facilities improvements, including a new security system, AUHSD officials collaborated with school principals, administrative staff and local police departments to identify key areas where cameras should be placed, as well as what specifications the system should have, should footage need to be turned over to law enforcement.

The district brought on CA-based integrator HCI which recommended Hanwha Vision’s QNV-7080R 4MP Network IR Vandal Resistant Cameras. The Wisenet Q series 4MP cameras enable high resolution monitoring with clear images and the innovative hallway view feature maximizes the area of surveillance in narrow locations, such as school corridors. In addition, these Q series cameras are equipped with IR function, enabling clear, sharp images in dimly lit environments and during the night.

“We had a very robust set of technical specifications in our RFP, and the image quality, frame rate and light specifications of the Hanwha cameras matched our requirements,” explained Erik Greenwood, chief technology officer for AUHSD. By not having many different camera models, AUHSD didn’t need to keep a huge stock of lenses and accessories, which was favorable from a troubleshooting and ongoing maintenance standpoint. The vandal resistant features of the Hanwha cameras were also a big factor in their decision process since the camera domes can easily be cleaned or swapped without having to replace the entire camera.

♦ Result
The installation process took about a year, but it was smooth. There are now 1,250 Hanwha cameras installed throughout the district in entrances, exits, exterior restroom doors, staff work areas and in general meeting areas. They are helping the district keep eyes on campus vandalism, graffiti, potential threats and, in some cases, even monitoring certain personnel issues, such as inappropriate use of school equipment. When an incident is reported, administrators can quickly access and review the security footage to see what happened.

Now that the installation is complete, AUHSD is taking a closer look to see where there may still be some blind spots and exploring where they might benefit from potential expansion.