Naval Park Preserves the Past and Secures the Future with Hanwha Vision

The Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park, in Buffalo, N.Y., has a clear mission based on four pillars: to honor all veterans, educate the public about the sacrifices made by those who serve, inspire a sense of patriotism and appreciation for those protecting Americans’ rights and freedoms, and preserve the artifacts entrusted to the park’s care.

The museum regularly hosts events and takes visitors inside America’s military history with in-depth tours of decommissioned naval vessels, exhibits, and displays – while providing a welcoming and secure environment . The team had noticed an increased rate of delinquent incidents happening during the day and off hours, including graffiti on the artifacts and monuments.

The Park engaged Mario Rodriguez, president of Forseti Protection Group and Erik Schiefer of Seibold Security, who worked with Naval Park President & CEO Paul Marzello, Sr. and Bill Abbott, Director of Operations, to design and install a wireless surveillance system based on Hanwha Vision’s multi-directional and AI-equipped cameras.

Abbott: We have large open grounds that are not fenced in so the public at any time of day or night can access the grounds. We had done a site survey, considering factors that include line of sight and the cameras’ capabilities. Those were all factors in how we determined the layout, the density of groups of visitors and where they tend to gravitate, and criminal history in the park. We wanted to make sure that we had the right coverage.

Marzello: When we did our research, we found that Hanwha Vision certainly was a leader in the industry. They also came highly recommended by our security consultants, which was Forseti Group.

Rodriguez: From a risk and a public safety perspective, we looked at how we could maintain an open and welcoming environment and still have public safety at top-of-mind.

Schiefer: We use Hanwha Vision in many of our projects. Their new 4K multi-sensor cameras are first class and as far as 360° coverage, with the ability to monitor several areas, Hanwha Vision was the first choice.

Rodriguez: We can get 360°coverage from one camera that essentially is divided into multiple sectors. That gives us full visibility and lets us be open and welcoming while keeping out of the public’s way without being imposing or intimidating.

Schiefer: One of the primary factors that we had to consider when designing this project was our inability to cable a project of this scale. The cost to run buried cable at such long distances with switches would have rendered this project almost completely impossible. We incorporated wireless network cards into the poles around the park and all the cameras feed directly back to the Hanwha Vision NVR without using any sort of cabling.

Abbott: As far as technology is concerned, NDAA-compliance was important. We wanted to make sure that the cameras themselves were secure. The cameras also needed to be used to positively identify someone who had done something, either damage or acts of violence.

In the past, we had no capacity to effectively supply law enforcement with usable information to identify a suspect. We’ve now changed that with the quality of cameras that we’re using. We can share footage and data to produce an outcome that’s satisfying to everybody as far as finding a culprit and holding them accountable.

Schiefer: One key benefit with Hanwha Vision’s 360° cameras covering such a large area is when it comes to playing back footage and monitoring activity after the fact. They are broken out into four sensors, so you’re not necessarily having to go back and look through a large amount of footage. You can pick the area you’re looking for, go directly to that sensor within the camera that we have in that area, and you can pull footage much easier that way.

Rodriguez: With AI, what’s often overlooked is the physical assets and physical infrastructure and how it can be impacted positively, and I think we’ve shown that throughout this project.

Abbott: You can use key identifiers, whether it’s the color of someone’s shirt, if they’re wearing a backpack, or there’s some physical feature that we can then go through and locate that person through the system. We absolutely would see an increase in the value and number of cameras that we can use.

Marzello: From an operations standpoint, we feel a greater sense of security knowing that the cameras are there, that the cameras will help us identify those people or things that notice and can hopefully prevent. This system will not only meet our needs today but will be able to grow with us as we evolve.