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SURVE I L L A N C E T E C H N O L O G Y cameras from middle schools and high schools. The school installations include exterior cameras and interior cameras in the lobbies and large common areas, such as cafeterias and gymnasiums. The system was not designed to intrude; it was designed to help police in the event of a dangerous emergency such as an active shooter. Video from city and school cameras feeds into the transportation center in the police station where it can be monitored. The system includes cameras from several manufacturers and to view it at the police monitoring station, something has to convert it. For that, the police use a VidSys Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) system that integrates security devices and operational data into a single system. "We have interfaces written between the system and all of the different cameras," Turner says. Casinos that share In Atlantic City, 13 casinos started sharing video surveillance and communication systems with the police last year, even though each casino's systems differ greatly from the others. An interoperability technology from Mutualink ties everything together. "There were 13 different video systems, 13 different radio systems and 13 different telephone systems," explains Robert Wright, CPP, Mutualink's business development director. "Our technology bridges each casino's systems to make them available to the police." In the event of an emergency at one of the casinos, police can call up the casino's video surveillance system and talk on the radio with casino employees from police landlines or cell phones. Employees that are off-site can use their cell phones to call in and reach other employees over the radio. Once on site, police can use their radios to talk to casino employees who are using casino radios. That's a lot of sharing. "There are some concerns about big brother watching," Wright concedes. "But the casinos will only share when they 20 Law Enforcement Technology In recent years, police requests for video have grown into formal programs. want to. Casino employees must set the Mutualink technology to allow sharing before the police can get into the system. Casino employees can turn it off any time they want." Now that the casinos are online, Atlantic City plans to expand the Mutualink network to other private entities. Atlanta's Goal: Link 14,000 cameras In years past, Atlanta police would go to businesses near the scene of an incident and ask for video. All too often, the video quality wasn't good enough or the cameras were inoperable. Today, the city is integrating public and private camera feeds—often from updated systems—into a single center. The goal is to tie 14,000 cameras together over the next five years. The Operation Shield Video Integration Center, as it is called, September 2013 www.officer.com has currently garnered feeds from nearly 1,700 cameras from private organizations, public entities and the City of Atlanta. The Center has been open for 18 months. The private sector in Atlanta is stepping up to build out the system. "We're getting access to private businesses and large corporations," says Grant M. Hawkins, MPA, vice president of Programs & Strategic Projects with the Atlanta Police Foundation. "They are investing in infrastructure, and this is saving the city the cost of adding more of its own cameras. Often the companies upgrade their system so that we can have access. I think this is a good