“Live traffic video substantially boosts our situational awareness,” said Michael Walter, public information officer with the Houston Office of Emergency Management. “It makes a real difference to how we do our jobs.”
Four Video System Tie-Ins
“Collectively our EOC has access to literally hundreds of live video feeds,” Walter said. “Our people can call them up based on location, intersection or as assigned to cover specific events.”
After the New York City Office of Emergency Management’s (NYC OEM) EOC was destroyed on 9/11 (it was located in the World Trade Center), the agency worked out of temporary facilities until the opening of its new headquarters. Today, New York City’s EOC is connected to video cameras operated by the city’s Transportation Department, public safety agencies and utilities as well as city-owned cameras in strategic locations.
In Florida, Orlando’s EOC relies not just on the city’s network of traffic and public safety cameras, but also those operated by the Florida Department of Transportation on the state’s Atlantic and Gulf coasts. “We are the evacuation destination when hurricanes approach, both from the coasts to the interior and northwards from Florida into other states,” said Manuel Soto, emergency manager for the Orlando Emergency Management Office. “Having eyes on the roads coming into Orlando helps us anticipate traffic problems before they occur, and ensure that the flow of evacuees is smooth and managed. We couldn’t do this to the same degree without access to these video feeds.”
The Norfolk, Va., Department of Emergency Preparedness and Response has two divisions: one for emergency management (including the EOC) and the other for emergency communications (including the 911 dispatch center). “We work together very closely, and using real-time video supplied by traffic and other camera sources makes a big contribution to our efforts,” said Jim Redick, Norfolk’s director of Emergency Preparedness and Response. “In particular, we rely on the network of traffic cameras operated by the Virginia DOT. They make a big difference when we are coordinating hurricane evacuations or dealing with human-driven incidents in our jurisdiction.”
What Video Surveillance Provides to EOCs
The primary benefit of tapping into other agencies’ video surveillance systems is improved situational awareness for EOCs. This translates into better decision-making by EOC management and improved outcomes for public safety.
This benefit can take many forms. For instance, the New York City EOC’s ability to look at a range of video surveillance helped it manage incidents like 2012's Superstorm Sandy and the East Harlem gas explosion, as well as everything in-between.
“When major incidents occur, NYC fire and police often set up cameras at the incident scenes and stream that video directly back to their headquarters,” Krakauer said. “Our ability to watch this video in real time lets our people make better, more informed and timely decisions.”
In Norfolk, the EOC’s responsibility extends to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard and the regular visits by top dignitaries to and from it. Thanks to the wealth of traffic cameras in this area, “We are able to track President [Barack] Obama’s motorcade from Norfolk International Airport right to the naval yard,” Redick said. “We just switch from traffic camera to traffic camera, and keep an eye on the entire route as the motorcade rolls by.”
The second benefit of video surveillance is the ability to quickly see what’s happening remotely from the EOC. This doesn’t just apply to traffic cameras. In Houston, the city pre-positions cameras in and around the Toyota Center (home to the NBA’s Houston Rockets) when there are major sporting events, Walter said. “This lets us know exactly what is going on, and be ready to deal with issues that might occur during and after the event.”
The third benefit of tapping into video surveillance is improved overall response time. “When we can see what is going on, we can react far sooner,” Krakauer said. “This cascades through the entire emergency response chain.”
Lessons Learned
Lessons learned from using video surveillance are many and varied.
Look for as many sources of real-time video in your jurisdiction as possible, and reach out to all of them for access. “Bring in as many partners as you reasonably can, so that you have access to as many video ‘eyes’ as you can,” said Krakauer. “The more completely you can look in and around your jurisdiction — including inside schools, hospitals and commercial spaces — the better informed you will be when decisions have to be made.”
Form video surveillance steering committees with your partners to manage access and coverage on an ongoing basis, said Soto. “Establishing working relationships and protocols before incidents occur ensures that you have what you need, in terms of video feeds, when they do,” he added. “The last thing you want to be doing in a crisis is ironing out feed access agreements.”
Redick said it’s also important to train with the agencies you are accessing video feeds from. “Joint training exercises identify issues when the stakes aren’t life or death, and help form relationships and understandings that will pay off when real trouble hits. It also lets you know what everyone has to bring to the table and gives you time to fill any gaps that may exist.”
And think outside the box, said Walter. “There are all kinds of video camera sources out there, including many that lie outside the usual public safety and traffic surveillance networks. Ask around: You may be surprised as to who may have video cameras that you can tap into to increase your coverage.”
James Careless has written extensively on public safety issues for Government Video, Law and Order, and Urgent Communications magazines.
This story was originally published by Emergency Management.
