Milestone Systems’ XProtect video management software is supporting a community-wide public safety network in Columbia Borough, Pennsylvania, providing police and emergency personnel with access to live and recorded video across public spaces, parks and municipal facilities.
The borough has worked with security integrator App-Techs for more than 16 years to develop and expand the distributed system, which now incorporates around 83 camera feeds, including 4K multi-lens and PTZ cameras.
Rather than relying on conventional wired infrastructure, App-Techs developed a distributed wireless architecture to accommodate Columbia’s geographically varied environment.
XProtect provides the video management foundation, with dedicated servers located at the municipal building and a remote park office. Police officers can access live camera feeds from laptops in patrol vehicles, while mobile access can also be provided to personnel during community events.
Dispatchers are the primary day-to-day users of the system, monitoring video and using camera feeds to assist officers in the field.
In one example, a dispatcher observed a person breaking into a vending machine outside a laundromat and was able to immediately send officers to the location.
“Our staff member observed someone breaking into a vending machine just outside that building and was able to dispatch officers to the scene,” said Columbia Borough Police Department Chief Jack Brommer.
“Officers apprehended the individual, and it turns out this was a serial thief who had been breaking into vending machines across the tri-county area. So that single arrest helped resolve a number of thefts across multiple counties.”
The system also extends into the police station, including holding cells and interview rooms where microphones are integrated with cameras.
Columbia has also used the network to support large public events. During the borough’s annual Thunder on the River antique car show, emergency management personnel used the camera network for monitoring and incident response.
The deployment demonstrates the evolving role of video management platforms beyond conventional surveillance, particularly as public safety organisations seek to bring multiple cameras, locations and users into a common operating environment.
Columbia now plans to increase its use of video analytics, including object-search capabilities that could allow investigators to filter recorded video according to characteristics such as vehicle type and colour.
The borough is also exploring emerging gunshot-detection technology as another potential source of information for improving situational awareness.
Brommer said the system had become a long-term component of the borough’s approach to public safety, supporting incident response, investigations and evidence gathering.
“The data that I can point to is that we are trending downward, probably for the last five, six years, as far as call volume and crime trends,” he said. “Those numbers have been very positive.”
