Campus safety is a top priority, yet the management of parking areas is often overlooked. However, parking lots are usually the first stop for visitors, making them a critical part of your overall security strategy. Implementing an Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) system can enhance campus security by tracking and identifying vehicles as they enter and leave, providing an additional layer of protection.
Key Benefits of ALPR for Campus Security
Using an ALPR for campus security offers several key benefits:
- Monitoring Off-Hours Traffic: ALPR can identify and track vehicles that arrive on campus outside of normal hours, such as late at night or on weekends. This could indicate someone surveilling the campus, attempting vandalism, or unauthorized use of facilities like pools or sports fields.
- Alerting on Known Threats: The system can proactively alert security teams when vehicles associated with individuals on watch lists, such as terminated staff or individuals with restraining orders, enter the premises.
- Supporting Incident Investigations: By maintaining detailed records of campus visitors, ALPR can provide valuable information to law enforcement during investigations.
- Managing Parking Violations: The system can notify you when vehicles exceed parking time limits or ensure that only authorized vehicles occupy staff and faculty parking spots.
Choosing the Right Cameras for ALPR
When selecting cameras for ALPR, NIC Partners recommends models with high resolution and optical zoom to capture clear images of license plates. IR illumination is also beneficial for night-time identification. Proper camera placement is crucial, ensuring a clear view of vehicles as they enter and exit parking areas to monitor how long they stay on campus.
For instance, the Meraki MV52, with its telephoto lens and 4K resolution, provides a close-up view of vehicles entering or leaving the lot. The Meraki MV72X can also be effective when placed near the lot entrance or exit.
Integrating ALPR with Meraki MV
Integrating ALPR with the Meraki MV video surveillance platform is seamless thanks to its open API, which allows third-party applications like Plate Recognizer’s ‘Stream’ to enhance functionality. This software can detect vehicle type, make, model, and license plate, forwarding the data to your system via webhook, JSON, or CSV. Coupling this with Plate Recognizer’s ‘ParkPow’ parking management software enables comprehensive logging, searching, and analytics of vehicle activity, with proactive alerts triggered by specific vehicle arrivals or set criteria.
The Plate Recognizer ‘Stream’ app can be deployed on-premises to process live video from Meraki cameras, requiring a computing platform like Linux, Windows, or Raspberry Pi. This setup can be centralized or distributed across campuses, depending on the number of cameras.
Example of plate recognition capabilities within Plate Recognizer Stream:
Alternatively, you can use Meraki’s MQTT feature to send license plate data to Plate Recognizer’s cloud, eliminating the need for on-site compute capacity. However, this method introduces a 2-3 minute delay between the live event and data presentation, and each camera will require a Meraki ‘MV Sense’ license.
ParkPow acts as a dashboard for all vehicle data, offering search functions, analytics, and trends, such as car volumes and dwell times. It also provides alerts for vehicles of interest or policy violations, and tags can differentiate between staff, faculty, visitors, and students.
Example of ParkPow dashboard capabilities:
Conclusion
In summary, an ALPR system like Plate Recognizer + ParkPow can significantly enhance campus safety when integrated with the Meraki MV platform. At NIC Partners, our clients have provided overwhelmingly positive feedback on this solution. For expert guidance on implementing ALPR systems and integrating them with your Meraki MV platform, contact NIC Partners today to enhance your campus security with a tailored solution.
Note: NIC Partners has not assessed the legal implications of public sector organizations collecting license plate data. It’s advisable to consult with legal counsel regarding compliance with California Civil Code 1798.90.51 and the California Public Records Act (CPRA) before deploying this solution.