Case Study

iXP Designs and Implements a Public Safety/ Security Solution for the Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University

Sector: Higher Education
Focus: Campus Public Safety and Security

Situation

The Johns Hopkins University constantly seeks ways to provide a safer environment for its students and employees on its Homewood campus, a 140-acre main campus, located in northern Baltimore.

Critical Issue

With its wide distribution of facilities, some in adjacent neighborhoods and on public streets, a student enrollment of more than 7,000, and more than 6,000 faculty and staff, the campus poses complicated public safety and security challenges.

Reasons

Having a safe campus is critical to effective enrollment in any higher education institution. The University needed a Public Safety grade emergency communications and security system that would integrate the technologies together to support a cost effective method of delivering mission critical services to the campus community.

Vision

iXP envisioned a state-of-the-art public safety communications and SmartCCTV network that would enhance the services provided by the Campus Safety and Security Department.

iXP Provided

Johns Hopkins selected iXP because of its reputation among U.S. colleges and universities (including the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, George Washington, Syracuse University, Arizona State University, and the University of California at San Francisco) as the leading provider of public safety consulting and mission-critical technology integration and operational services. iXP designed a system that integrates behavior recognition software with CCTV technology to automate and issue prioritized dispatch alerts and maximizes the amount of CCTV cameras that can be managed by a Security Department emergency communication dispatcher.

Results

Campus Safety and Security personnel have described the proactive campus communications/monitoring solution as a “force multiplier,” enabling them to safeguard more areas than they could with just officers on the street. In the 12 months immediately following the system’s installation, Johns Hopkins Security was able to monitor, respond to and intervene in more than 100 potentially dangerous situations.

The blend of new technology and operations has enhanced the effectiveness of the university’s security response model. It may not be feasible to station an officer on every campus street, but the SmartCCTV system allows Campus Safety and Security personnel to conduct virtual patrols.

Johns Hopkins also retained iXP to build a new communications center to house monitoring and dispatch personnel and operations under one roof. Construction of the facility is complete and operational. The new communications center, allows the Security Department dispatchers/monitors to utilize an integrated communications/security system to proactively support field officers and have interoperability with the Baltimore City Police and Fire Departments. The new facility will be the most sophisticated Public safety/Security command and control center of any university in the U.S.

iXP is in the process of adding additional SmartCCTV cameras to the Johns Hopkins network, which will provide even greater on and off campus coverage. iXP has also replaced the university’s existing blue-light emergency telephones, which when combined with the SCCTV system has created numerous safety zones throughout the campus.

Problem Solved.