Case Study: Anne Frank Memorial

Sloan Security Group Designs and Deploys a Surveillance Solution at the Anne Frank Memorial Following Vandalism.

Overview

Boise, Idaho – The Anne Frank Memorial, a unique memorial park in the heart of downtown Boise, was the victim of vandalism when swastika symbols were placed throughout the memorial in early December 2020. Back In 2017, anti-Semitic graffiti over four consecutive nights led to nearly $20,000 worth of damage.

Following this most recent attack, Dan Prinzing, Executive Director of the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights said, "We have always felt like the heart of the community, and this was a stab in the heart. While we cannot physically stand together, we can each stand up in our homes, our neighborhoods, places of worship, where we work, our schools, to stand up against injustice. It starts there."

Sloan Security Group was brought in to evaluate the complex layout of the open-air memorial site with highly trafficked multiple access points. Sloan’s team designed a surveillance solution to help deter and document any future vandalism and crime.

Challenges

Communication – There was no way to access a network at the park in order to send the surveillance footage to the nearby visitor’s center.

Constant Power – The design plan was to mount cameras on 3 light poles in a triangulated pattern around the perimeter of the site. Constant power was essential at each location, however, the memorial’s lights operated on a photocell.

Budget – The Wassmuth Center for Human Rights is a not-for-profit organization with a limited budget for security. Sloan’s design had to be planned out carefully and be highly efficient to accomplish its goal, while still being cost-effective.

Solution

Communication – Sloan utilized point-to-point antennas on each lighting pole. The communication through the antennas sends data to a base station at the nearby visitor’s center for the memorial. Sloan designed and fabricated a sleek device housing that fit seamlessly over top of each camera's factory mounting arm. This gives a clean, aesthetic look that matched the architectural design of the site.

Constant Power – Sloan partnered with Guho Construction and Quality Electric (Boise, ID) to re-wire the light poles to have constant power at the base and integrated POE injectors (power over ethernet).

Budget – Sloan donated much of the labor costs, enabling the customer to invest more in hardware and software.

Recording Storage – Because the communication is done over the air, Sloan chose to install SD cards locally in each camera to serve as a backup in the event of communication fails between the antenna and visitor’s center.

Result

The overall solution employs Axis Cameras triangulated around the perimeter of the memorial for video surveillance, capturing multiple entry points and multiple angles to the site. Ubiquiti Radio Networking Equipment allows for device connectivity. The video monitoring and video storage are controlled by ExacqVision Software and Server Technology.

The Wassmuth Center for Human Rights is now able to monitor the Anne Frank Memorial 24/7/365 with video surveillance and deter future vandalism with warning signage Sloan posted throughout the site.

The Anne Frank Memorial is the only one of its kind in the U.S. The Wassmuth Center and the Boise community are now able to protect and preserve this historical landmark for many years to come.

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