Core Goal #8: Closed Circuit Television (CCTV)
Maryland should have a robust closed circuit television (CCTV) network to secure critical infrastructure such as power and water treatment plants and to provide the ability to monitor events in real time via means such as highway cameras to aid in evacuation control, and patrol car, helicopter, and marine unit downlinks to aid in incident response. Images should transmit to IP in order to be portable to and from key local and state facilities, such as emergency operations centers and mobile command posts.
Why is Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) important?
CCTV is critical to provide situational awareness of events, serve as a preventative presence to deter crime, manage traffic congestion and incidents, and for criminal investigation. CCTV is deployed in areas such as ports, airports, tunnels, highways, street corners, busy intersections, and surrounding critical infrastructure. When paired with advanced technologies such as night vision, pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) capability, suspicious package identification, and optical character recognition (used for vehicle identification) CCTV can better identify threats and secure critical areas.
Strategic Plan for CCTV:
8A – Maryland should have a robust and interconnected CCTV system that secures private and public critical infrastructure.
• Develop a robust CCTV system that monitors key public resources and critical facilities and interconnects various currently individual systems creating a blanket of video security.
• Provide a technology bridge between private CCTV systems and the State system to allow for State monitoring if necessary.
• Facilitate the improvement of private critical infrastructure security by assisting private partners in the planning necessary for CCTV surveillance of their privately held infrastructure and resources.
8B – Maryland’s CCTV network should provide the ability to monitor events in real time via means such as highway cameras to aid in evacuation control, and patrol car, helicopter, and marine unit up/downlinks to aid in incident response.
• Provide a platform and facilitate the implementation of a comprehensive vehicle based CCTV system for first responders in patrol cars, helicopters, and marine units with a means for video upload and download.
• Facilitate the dissemination of CCTV video to assist in evacuations and incident response and improve situational awareness.