Today, every community faces increasing threats from both man-made disasters and natural calamities. These threats have a catastrophic impact on lives, property, and people’s sense of well-being. All of these attacks require a networked and systematic approach to the protection of our public infrastructure and of people, perhaps none so more than terrorist attacks, where the threat evolves and changes rapidly.

Emergencies don’t make appointments. Government agencies need to respond intelligently to critical situations. Especially at a time of budget reductions, this puts immense pressure on security systems to be operationally efficient, cost- effective, and scalable.

An architectural approach to safety and security begins with the network. Individual scenarios will dictate what technologies need to connect, but the underlying network infrastructure remains consistent. Network design should be “borderless” so that the user experience is equally effective whether users are working on a workstation in a security operations center, on a laptop in a moving vehicle, or on a mobile device as they move around a city campus.

The network infrastructure should help ensure secure and reliable communications and also provide a level of scalability that accommodates growth as the community expands. The common infrastructure can also be shared so that the various services the community provides are enhanced and become more cost-effective.

A safety and security solution built on the foundation of a robust, secure network can be a true force multiplier. By integrating disparate elements of a public security system—including video surveillance platforms, decision support tools, and heterogonous radio communications systems— the networked platform can significantly enhance the role played by each element in restoring peace and order (Figure 2).

The Network as a Force Multiplier

An Architectural Approach to Safety and Security

The incidents that public safety agencies must respond to can range from a local and unintentional event like a minor accident to a large-scale national event like an earthquake (Figure 1). Some recent examples include the 9/11 attacks, the Mumbai terror attack, Hurricane Katrina, and the earthquake in Haiti. A common architectural framework can help address this wide range of challenges in a consistent manner, supporting the scaling of the response from local to national level.

Enhance Security and Mitigate Threats by Improving Communication and Collaboration

Figure 1: The Varied Scale and Security Challenges of Public Safety Emergencies

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Figure 2: The Network as a Force Multiplier for Public Security Systems

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Augment and integrate with your existing infrastructure and partner ecosystem

As Figure 3 shows, the network acts as an intelligent fabric between IP-enabled technologies that deliver information (enabling detection) and the user interfaces that display that information (supporting assessment). The more intelligent the network, the less work the endpoints and/or the applications have to do. This helps drive down the cost and maintainability of the applications and endpoints and enables overall system intelligence to exist in the fabric of the network, whether that is fixed or cloud-based. The result is faster innovation, more affordable products, and richer content for assessors and responders, which leads to quicker and more intelligent decision making.

The network acts as an intelligent fabric supporting detection, assesment and response. In essence, the network enables technologies to coordinate and interact. The network becomes not just a path for data, but also a platform for interoperability and scalability.

Cisco is a unique company because it can tie all the components needed for public safety systems together. The Cisco “network as a platform” approach—along with open, standards-based architectures—will help you in the following ways:

• Cost reductions: The existing infrastructure can be reused and integrated so that you can use your budget to enhance, not replace. A network-based approach also means that security systems can be used for much more than just security. This ensures better ROI for your investments.

• Intelligent decision making: Use of Cisco collaboration technologies delivers information including voice, video, and data in real time to the relevant personnel, wherever they may be. This allows personnel to get and share the information they need for a faster and fully collaborative response.

• Scalability: Cisco’s unified, IP-based security system provides the foundation for integrating with other systems and devices. It allows best-in-class security and communications components from multiple vendors to be combined. This, in turn, helps ensure scalability and can greatly enhance the situational awareness of personnel.

• Reduced training needs: Integration with existing installed systems and the ability to work with your preferred tech partners helps to ensure that less training is needed for your staff to get acquainted with new systems.

The Benefits of Cisco’s “Network as a Platform” Approach

Learn More For additional information about how Cisco solutions can help you achieve maximum effectiveness from your safety and security resources, contact your Cisco representative or visit us online at: http://www.cisco.com/go/physec or e-mail us at: Urban_security_solutions@cisco.com

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Figure 3: Detection, Assessment and Response

Security and Collaboration