- Chief Leo F. Brown, Sr., Chief of Police, Southwest Tennessee Community College

The Challenges: destruction of property through vandalism and gang graffiti, false fire alarms, disorderly conduct, theft from the buildings and auto theft, stolen books, also a few outpatients from a local mental illness hospital who've forgotten to take their medicine and wander onto campus from time to time (harmless but nevertheless disturbing to students and employees).

The Solution: Milestone XProtect IP video surveillance software manages 150 Panasonic KX HCM 280 cameras and SONY SNC-CS3N cameras with Pan Tilt Zoom functionality.

The Advantages: drastically improved safety for faculty, staff, students and property, more efficient use of police resources, faster response to incidences, plus better monitoring of Occupational Health and Safety issues.

 

Chief Leo Brown manages the Campus Police in a way that demonstrates his energy and professionalism are coupled with a warm and heartfelt protectiveness. In addition to running his force of 42 officers managing 7 campus locations around Memphis, he is also very active in local and state youth crime initiatives. This is documented on his office wall, which is covered with framed degrees and community awards, including a photo of him at the White House proudly receiving one these.

Chief Brown got his staff trained and accredited as State Certified Police Officers several years ago, so they are able to respond to security incidences with direct intervention, including access to police criminal databases. All the Memphis Police Department has to do is transport anyone his officers arrest to the city jail.

Two schools and their locations merged in recent years: they now have a total of 14,000 students in the 7 campuses throughout Memphis, and one of these is integrated with a high school that has 300+ students.

Chief Brown says that the younger students are responsible for more vandalism than the older ones. The school also experiences some criminal elements coming in from outside the school. No matter whether the security problems are internal or external, Chief Brown’s police force has total control and fast response with their new Milestone XProtect IP video surveillance system.

He has only praise for the Milestone IP video surveillance installed last summer by Dynamark Security in several campus locations at a cost of 1/4 million USD with 105 cameras in a mix of Panasonic and SONY PTZ models.

The cameras are installed in parking lots, isolated areas, corridors and stairwells, the bursar's office, the student lounge areas, vending machine rooms, gymnasium, supply warehouse and delivery area - and the daycare center!

42 police on his force work in 3 shifts round the clock. One is always monitoring the central surveillance camera images, while the night shift uses the software’s motion detection and event alarms to help inform them about any incidences, so the officers on duty can respond immediately. "We've seen a drastic drop in crime and can report that the surveillance is a huge deterrent," states Chief Brown. Since the summer installation of the new system, they've seen a decrease in vandalism, and computer thefts are down, too. Book theft is an ongoing problem, but they have now set up cameras near the bookstore to help address that.

Since the system installation, fire alarms have been pulled 7 times: a few of the high school students set them off, which calls the fire station at unnecessary cost. Thanks to the Milestone surveillance software, the campus police were able to catch all of the perpetrators. The parents were called in, most of them protesting 'not my sweet child!' before being shown the evidence. The Chief could hear the parents yelling at their kids on the way out of the meetings after that!

In addition, the campus police can watch the shipping docks when school supplies are being loaded and unloaded, and in off-hours to monitor against theft. There’s a daycare facility with special low-light cameras that allow viewing in that location during naptime, as well!

With the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) function also under the Chief’s purvey, he reports that his officers can see with the surveillance whenever there are problems in this area, like lights that have gone out, and get it taken care of.

The Chief had only the highest praise for the Dynamark Security installation: "It was very speedy – in just two weeks! They worked with expert professionalism and responsiveness. I’m especially impressed that they call me every morning to check in and make sure everything is running perfectly."

Sure enough: the phone rang shortly thereafter, proving his point.

For more information see www.southwest.tn.edu and www.milestonesys.com.