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REPORT RAPPORT |
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REPORT RAPPORT |
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DATE: |
26 April 2011 |
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TO: |
Executive Director, Ottawa Police Services Board |
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FROM: |
Chief of Police, Ottawa Police Service |
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SUBJECT: |
CENTRAL CELLBLOCK
VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM |
RECOMMENDATION
BACKGROUND
The Ottawa Police Service Central Cellblock is a high risk environment in which persons are temporarily detained. The personnel assigned to this area have a duty of care for all prisoners. This duty includes protecting prisoners and cellblock staff from harm, as well as safeguarding personal property and documenting any evidence which may enter the cellblock environment.
During the recent review of Central Cellblock operations, a recommendation was made to upgrade the video monitoring equipment which services this area. This system has limited coverage of the individual prisoner cells, the video images are dark and grainy and no audio is captured.
Staff have developed a proposal to upgrade the system, which utilizes adopted corporate standards for March Networks products and services provided by Sunotech Canada. It also begins to integrate the Central Cellblock Video Surveillance System with the OPS Integrated Security Management System (ISMS).
DISCUSSION
Current System
The Ottawa Police Service Central Cellblock located at 474 Elgin Street is a 63-cell temporary detention facility supported by a video surveillance system comprised of 89 cameras. It is not capable of recording audio. Each cell has a dedicated camera, and common areas are covered by overview cameras.
The common area camera feeds are recorded continuously, while individual cell cameras can be recorded on demand by the Sergeant-in-charge. There are two monitoring stations for all cameras – one at the Sergeant’s desk and the second at the Special Constable station.
The system is comprised of a mixture of original equipment cameras that are now 17 years old, as well as cameras that were added at the time of the Cellblock expansion in 2005. The digital video recorders that are used to record the video feeds are located in a secure room and are now six years old.
The system is made up of relatively low resolution analog cameras and the display equipment is limited to displaying four cells at a time in rotation. Due to the low resolution and the age of the cameras it is not possible to discern movement in cells and properly monitor prisoner activity. The system constraints are a function of the limits of the technology that existed at the time the system was installed.
Enhancements to
Prisoner-Booking Area/Breathalyser Rooms
In February 2011, staff enhanced the video capture functionality in the Central Cellblock by installing the OPS Digital Audio Video Interview System (DAVIS) in the prisoner-booking area and the breathalyser rooms. DAVIS is a state-of-the-art audio/video recording and case management system specifically designed for recording police interviews. It has been installed in the interview rooms in all OPS stations. The backbone of DAVIS is a software product called VideOversight™. The system supports the recording of the booking process and breathalyser testing, as these processes are interviews and prisoner statements are evidence.
DAVIS relies on two cameras and two microphones to capture the booking area. Each breathalyser room employs a single camera and microphone. Video interview evidence is captured and stored on OPS network servers in searchable case folders. This system will operate independently of the new video surveillance/ISMS system as this form of evidence gathering is a best practice. DAVIS is not designed for large scale video surveillance applications.
Rationale for System Upgrade
OPS requires a robust video/audio monitoring and recording system in order to fulfil its mandate to “protect persons and cellblock staff from harm, safeguard personal property and document any evidence that may come into the Cellblock environment”. The components of the current system fall significantly short of those requirements.
The existing Cellblock video surveillance system cameras are considered obsolete. They are unable to produce video images of sufficient quality to allow for proper monitoring by the cellblock personnel. The cameras use analog technology and are susceptible to interference. A significant number of cameras are incapable of displaying an image that allows the viewer to discern fine movement or, in some cases, to see anything but an outline of a prisoner in dark conditions. Some of the cameras are 17 years old—far beyond their service life and evident by their performance failure.
The existing “video wall” displays at the monitoring stations are limited to a split-screen display of eight video feeds from a total of four cells with images cycling every three seconds. The remaining four feeds are displays of common areas that cannot be seen from the Sergeant’s desk. There are generally less than 20 occupants at any given time. At these occupancy levels the display will experience 15 second gaps between displays and much greater gaps when the number approaches capacity.
The OPS presently uses Digital Video Recorders (DVR) to record video feeds. These DVRs have proven reliable, but are at the end of their service life as they are now six years old. These DVRs employ internal hard drives that are in continuous use, as well as moving parts such as cooling fans. The likelihood of system failure increases with time. The loss of data could result from a hard drive failure, and system down time would result. The probability of component failure in the near term is high.
Presently, the four prisoner phone rooms and three holding cells, as well as the prisoner property storage area, are not monitored by video surveillance. The prisoner property storage area introduces the additional risk of allegations of mishandling of personal property and valuables which can be mitigated by video surveillance. These areas will all be covered following the proposed upgrade.
Recommended Solution
Staff is recommending the acquisition and implementation of a new system that will provide the functionality needed to support Cellblock operations. The camera technology being recommended for purchase includes Internet Protocol (IP) cameras with local archiving (local backup to onboard redundant memory), which creates superior quality digital images (720p HD) from a smaller sized camera with improved fields of view, low light performance and improved reliability. The result is an image with much greater resolution that will display the fine detail needed to discern threats and manage risk, capture evidence of existing and incurred injury and account for property and evidence in the cellblock environment. The resolution displayed and recorded by the existing cameras is approximately 10% of the proposed solution.
The proposed solution allows for significant flexibility to display continuous feeds from all cells. The system can be configured by the user to display the required video feeds in an optimal manner. The 15 second gaps in coverage increase risk of un-detected high risk behaviours such as self-harm or illness. Liability is best managed by providing an uninterrupted view of each prisoner cell – this also allows faster response times as it takes additional time for the viewer to process changing images than one that is the focus of the viewer.
The proposed solution uses a dedicated video server unit supported by storage incorporating RAID technology (Redundant Array Independent Disks) to ensure data integrity in the event of system failure. The system does not require associated DVRs. The system also provides built in memory with each camera capable of recording 36 hours of video to provide redundancy in the event of system failure.
Video coverage will be expanded to additional areas of the Cellblock. The prisoner phone rooms, holding cells and the prisoner property storage area will all be covered by the new system.
The recommended solution will also integrate the cellblock video surveillance system with the OPS ISMS in four key areas:
The new system will be installed and commissioned before transitioning from the existing system. The new equipment will be co-located with the old system before a graceful de-installation is completed.
Recommended Product
Staff is recommending the acquisition of the Networks VideoSphere™ Intelligent Video Surveillance system to meet the requirements for a new system in the cellblock. March Networks video surveillance technology is the corporate standard for the City of Ottawa and the Board. The technology has been installed in transit stations, fire service buildings, EMS headquarters and water and sewage treatment plants as well as every major police facility. March Networks was chosen for its reliability and ease of use. March Networks is an Ottawa based company and a world leader in video surveillance technology.
Recommended Supplier
Staff is recommending that Sunotech Canada Inc. be awarded the contract to supply the new system on a sole source basis. Sunotech is the exclusive provider of Integrated Security Management Systems (ISMS) solutions for the Ottawa Police Service; it is also maintenance contractor for these systems. It was awarded this status when the Board adopted the City’s ISMS standard as its own in 2001.
The high level of integration between the recommended cellblock video surveillance system and the existing ISMS is a key factor in staff’s recommendation to award this contract to Sunotech. It is critical that these systems fit together and operate in a seamless way. Holding one supplier accountable for both systems will promote the necessary integration. Sunotech is the logical choice, given their knowledge of the ISMS system and their status as the exclusive supplier and maintenance provider for the system.
The OPS Security Operations section strongly supports the recommendation that a single company be responsible for the installation, maintenance and support of the ISMS system including the Cellblock video surveillance system due to the complexity of the network, the requirement that there be minimal downtime and that having a single point of contact for support is a best practice. Significant additional costs can be incurred by having a second provider where there is significant probability that the troubleshooting process will involve the provider that is not actually responsible for the faulty component. Having a single company responsible eliminates such costs. They have developed a strong relationship with Sunotech that will help to support the implementation and maintenance of the new system.
Under staff’s proposal Sunotech will supply and install as well as provide warranty support for the proposed March Networks video surveillance system in the cellblock and will integrate this new system with the existing ISMS components in the cellblock as outlined earlier in this report. This complex ISMS environment will be completely supported by Sunotech with a one call service with no demand on Ottawa Police Service IT professionals. Sunotech will directly access March Networks technical resources as required for support. The result is integration of the video surveillance system into the ISMS system such that any system fault is fixed with minimal down time with a single call for service. The proposed solution includes additional camera coverage for the holding cells (3), phone rooms (4) and prisoner property storage area (2).
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
The total cost of this solution including warranty support is $285,831, exclusive of all taxes. Funding of $350,000 for this purchase is available from the 2011 Capital Project account #906220. The proposed solution can be installed and commissioned within 60 days (estimate) of contract award.
CONCLUSION
The present surveillance system is incapable of supporting the mandate of the cellblock personnel, a situation which results in increased risk. The risk can be mitigated by upgrading to a fully digital surveillance system and integrating it into the Ottawa Police Service ISMS environment with a single point of contact for system support. Sunotech Canada Inc. is uniquely able to meet these requirements given their existing relationship and exclusive supplier status with the Ottawa Police Service. There are funds dedicated in the 2011 budget to cover the cost of this project.
(Original signed by)
Vern White
Chief of Police
