Transportation

City of Sobral Historic Brazilian City Strengthens Public Safety With Pelco Products
by Denise Duran, Crockett International

City of Sobral and the Theory of Relativity

On May 29, 1919, the leading physicists and scientists from England’s Royal Scientific Society and Royal Astronomic Society visited the City of Sobral. Their mission: test a prediction by Einstein based on his Theory of Relativity. Today, a number of photographs as well as the original telescope, which was used to confirm Einstein’s Theory, can be seen at the Eclipse Museum, near Sobral’s town center.

Around-The-Clock Safety Monitoring at City of Sobral

The Sobral Safety System was conceived a year ago by the city’s public officials and was installed at the beginning of June 2002. The system aims to increase safety in those areas having the highest concentration of traffic. "The idea is to make safer the critical regions in the city, such as banking areas, access and exit routes, and historical buildings," said Major Francisco José Bezerra, General Commander of Sobral’s Municipal Guard.

José Netto, Sales Representative for Crockett International, was involved in all stages of this important project, including assisting in the design and installation certification of the entire system. The project is the first city-surveillance installation in Brazil to include the Esprit Pressurized Camera and Lens Optical Cartridge, along with state-of-the-art fiber optic transmission systems. José believes in the importance of this new project: "The security systems developed for and implemented in the Municipality of the City of Sobral is a prime example of public safety for the entire northeastern region of Brazil."

The System consists of 12 Esprit cameras, which are pressurized, waterproof, and equipped with window wipers. The project also includes DX7000 digital recorders, Genex multiplexers, and the CM6800 matrix system, along with PMC21A monitors. The project, to be completed before the end of this year, calls for more than 30 cameras.

The cameras are on-line 24 hours-a-day and are connected to the Municipality’s control room via optical fiber cables. Shortly after the system became operational, city officials were able to detect and record illegal activities, which would not have been possible earlier.

Esprit provides a high degree of weather resistance with the Pressurized Integrated Optics Cartridge (IOC), especially important in such high traffic areas as was required by the City of Sobral.

Esprit IOC also includes internal sensors that send "Alert" messages if changes in pressure, temperature, and humidity go beyond desired limits. "The sensors are a great feature because they benefit users by their not having to constantly monitor the camera, which lowers maintenance costs," said John Ellenberger, Senior Product Manager for Positioning Systems.