How Glenwood Police Department uses portable video camera platform as roving security zone

Like many small town police departments seeking to maintain neighborhood safety, the Village of Glenwood, Ill., needed to squeeze every ounce of value from its law enforcement tools. Budget-wise, a city-wide surveillance solution was out of the question. The chief of police really wanted a way to monitor neighborhood hotspots without monopolizing all of his department?s resources.

He spotted the perfect solution while attending a security conference with the mayor and village manager: a trailered surveillance unit called SkyWatch. As a portable video camera platform, SkyWatch could easily transport from one problem area to another. The chief began envisioning how technology could deter crime in his community.

?We have network video cameras at police headquarters and the Village Hall, the public works and the senior center, but none in the neighborhoods,? said Demetrius Cook, chief of police for the Village of Glenwood.

Like many communities, Glenwood has traditional trouble spots: a park where teenagers congregate and cause disturbances, a few houses with narcotics issues, and a rash of neighborhood burglaries. With a portable SkyWatch, the Glenwood Police Department could move an extra set of eyes around the village wherever and whenever it was needed.

Setting Up Surveillance on the Fly

SkyWatch is the brainchild of Critical Technology Solutions, an Illinois-based security integrator. The battery-powered unit consists of a platform containing an array of HDTV-quality, network cameras elevated on a 30-foot telescoping mast, to create a 360