Hanwha Video Surveillance Solutions Help Father Joe’s Villages Protect the Homeless in San Diego
Father Joe’s Villages was established in 1950 in a small chapel in downtown San Diego to serve San Diegans experiencing homelessness and poverty. The nonprofit organization has since grown to include a comprehensive campus and scattered-site programs that provide comprehensive housing and services to people struggling with homelessness in San Diego. In addition to offering hope to those experiencing homelessness in San Diego, the organization has made a commitment to provide a safe and secure environment for program participants, volunteers and employees. While Father Joe’s collection of cameras were the best in class when they were purchased years ago, they had an aging, disparate analog system and it was time to step up to a platform that was innovative and would bring them the latest in technology. In 2016, shortly after Frank Paredes joined Father Joe’s Villages as Director of Information Technology, the organization evaluated their physical security solution to determine how they could upgrade their existing collection of mix-and-match analog cameras to achieve an overall improved video surveillance system.
" The Hanwha camera and WAVE VMS solution have provided us outstanding quality and affordability. The pictures we get from the cameras – the vividness and the colors – are just phenomenal. We are grateful to have a solution that provides our community a top-notch security solution. "
After an RFP process and with input from security integrators JMG Security Systems and American Security Group, Paredes and his team chose to replace their existing solution with Hanwha video surveillance cameras managed by Hanwha’s Wisenet WAVE Video Management System (VMS). They selected Hanwha for their cameras’ crystal clear images, but more importantly Hanwha’s overall solution is very cost effective. They installed cameras from the Hanwha Wisenet Q series – including the QNO-7080R 4MP Network IR Bullet Camera, QNV-7010R 4MP Network IR vandal resistant camera, PND-9080R 4K IR dome camera– as well as IP PTZ cameras including the SNP-6320RH. Father Joe’s Villages currently operates more than 400 video surveillance cameras across their facilities including housing, program, administrative, retail and warehouse space.
Paredes said they are very pleased with the Wisenet WAVE VMS because it is so easy to use. Additionally, it has given them the capability to consolidate operations and easily manage video surveillance across the different locations. Even though blocks of cameras at each different facility might have a separate NVR, they unified the system via WAVE, enabling them to call up cameras from any of the locations throughout their campus and scattered site locations. WAVE has an outstanding user interface which makes it extremely easy to operate for all of their users. Whether they’re beginners, intermediate, or advanced users, it’s just as easy to manage because it’s all drag and drop. Father Joe’s Villages will soon break ground on an exciting addition – a high rise building that will double their affordable housing inventory by adding 407 units and additional program and administrative offices. This expansion will call for the addition of 250-plus cameras to their existing video surveillance system. Paredes said they plan to add Hanwha cameras that feature analytics as they expand the system to the new facility.
