Danville Housing Authority

Danville Illinois Housing Authority

Danville Illinois Housing Authority

The Mission

The Danville Housing Authority [DHA] is a 40 acre site located in Danville, Illinois.  Built in 1942, there are forty two residential buildings that contain 526 family units, a resident services building, and maintenance facilities.  Because it is a high crime area, the staff needed a video surveillance system for 24 hour monitoring with an emphasis on both vehicular and pedestrian access points.

The Solution

Springfield, Illinois-based systems integrator and Axis partner SEA Group, Inc., recommended a mix of Fixed Dome with motion detection Axis network cameras coupled with Genetec Unified Security software with AutoVu License Plate Recognition (LPR) software at key locations throughout the site as well as at two primary entrances, including AXIS P3214-VE and AXIS Q3505-VE Fixed Dome Network Cameras.

The complex presented many unique challenges with the size of the coverage area and retrofitting buildings with existing utilities for network infrastructure.  SEA Group recommended a meshed wireless network.  The majority of the cameras were connected to a T301 Series Ruckus device.  The T301 was ideal for DHA because it allowed for quick deployment of Wi-Fi in a high capacity environment.  Using directed coverage, the APs were deployed in close proximity, mitigating co-channel interference.  This was critical for DHA as high density deployments require a large number of APs within a fixed space. The open API architecture of the Axis cameras let SEA Group assemble the best components for the system.

The Result

The DHA and the City of Danville Police Department now has critical video evidence available to aid in the investigation of crimes and other incidents. The AutoVu LPR software records all vehicular traffic and cross references all license plate numbers against a database with the Illinois Secretary of State. With automatic alert messaging, the Authority and local law enforcement are now able to manage known offender traffic entering the Authority grounds. The system is already paying dividends.  In one instance, the cameras captured an assault with no witnesses, and the police were able to use video evidence to make an arrest.