IDS solution increases security for fans and local residents
The Windsor Park stadium in South Belfast has witnessed some momentous days in Linfield and Northern Ireland’s footballing history. Home to Linfield F.C. and the Northern Ireland national football team, it first opened in 1905, with a legendary derby match between Linfield and Glentoran. More recently it has hosted thousands of fans for the Irish Cup final for several years.
18,000 seater redevelopment plans
In May 2014, work began to redevelop the 1930’s stadium structure, with the aim of transforming it into an 18,000-capacity all-seater stadium. The £30 million project is due to be completed by November 2015.
The Challenge
Unfortunately over the years Windsor Park have experienced high levels of violence leading up to and on match days. The primary issues have been:
- Violence acts being carried out in the vicinity of the stadium pre and post-match days.
- Gang related crimes and hostility between opposing fans, resulting in incidents occurring in the grounds on match day.
It would be extremely challenging to police this activity on foot alone, so the obvious answer was a dependable security solution. It was important that the stadium’s security management were able to pinpoint ring leaders and troublemakers, so high quality CCTV was essential. Capturing faces was an integral part of the specification, hence it was imperative that the latest technology was installed around the stadium to ensure the safety of the property, fans and the general public.
A winning team
Metro CCTV is a leading company based in Cookstown Northern Ireland, at the forefront of CCTV design, installation and maintenance. They provide clients with custom designed digital recording units tailored to the needs of all sectors of the economy. IDS has been supplying Metro CCTV with security solutions for a number of years and they have developed a great relationship along the way.
“IDS are a great supplier, they are professional, reliable and work with complete integrity. The reason why we work with IDS is simple, they possess excellent technical knowledge and they have a complete understanding of our business. This has helped us to grow over the years and we have won great projects like Windsor Park Stadium as a result.”
“We knew that Windsor Park needed an excellent CCTV solution that could be monitored by their dedicated control room. IDS were the first point of call, after discussing the project requirements in detail they designed an excellent CCTV Solution for us. Needless to say we proceeded with their solution.” Metro CCTV, Managing Director, John Coyle.
The Solution
“Our design team ensured that we specified the perfect solution for the client. There were two key areas that we needed to focus on, first – to provide a high quality camera offering a 1080p resolution or higher, secondly to guarantee facial recognition.” Says Tas Kyriacou IDS Business Development Director.
IP CCTV Camera
Max Essenov, IDS Technical & Design Manager explains:
“We specified 16 of our bullet cameras in locations inside and outside the stadium. This camera gives the client a wide scope with electronic controls to pin point a specific area they would like to focus on.”
The NVR System
A 3U rack mount with an i7 and Windows Embedded 64 bit operating system with 30TB storage was also specified to the client to support the cameras software and store up to 30 days recording. This allows the client to refer back to any incidents that may have happened during the past month.
The Analytics Software
The face detection and masking analytic was also a suggested implementation so that when a controller focuses on a specific area to identify faces the software can take automatic snapshots of individuals. When an individual covers their face this masking analytic will detect this and raise an alarm and take a snapshot.
This works well in dense areas with a number of faces coming across the CCTV screen. These images and videos are stored on the NVR. Max adds.
Improved Security for Windsor Park
Peter McElhone, Business Development Manager, Metro CCTV, describes:
“We provide 24/7 CCTV monitoring to the site for round the clock protection. With the quality of the night time camera images we have set up a high definition video alarm on an invalid entry to the site by possible intrusion. While monitoring the scene the CCTV operative can immediately intervene via audio challenge to prevent incidents from taking place on site. This complete process has been made faster with greater clarity with the use of HD technology.”
John Coyle, Metro CCTV Managing Director, adds:
“Windsor Park’s security management are extremely happy with the results. The accuracy of the bullet cameras has allowed the controllers to monitor and manage the area far more efficiently. The quality of the videos and images from the camera have made it easier to identify individuals. That information can then be passed on to the foot police to take the necessary measures. The analytics have also help provide accurate data which helps to make arrests. This information can be stored and used in the future if other incidents occur.”
Next steps
“The versatility of the system allows the client to expand as and when they please. So if they want to add more cameras for other solutions, then it will be a seamless process.” Says George Kyriacou, IDS Head of Systems Engineering.
Project completed with:
Metro CCTV, 1 Ballyreagh Business Park, Cookstown, Tyrone, BT80 9AR
028 8676 4477.
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