SecureWatch24 ready to expand biz model, offerings with new 'Fusion Center'

NEW YORK—SecureWatch24, a security company started by retired NYCPD officers and specializing in property surveillance and facilities management, recently told Security Systems News they are ready to expand their offerings and footprint and change the face of the industry in their market.

"There's a lot happening here. We're in a real growth and hiring mode," SW24 chief marketing officer and VP residential sales Jay Stuck said. "You're going to hear a lot about us in the future."

Stuck said the company, with roots in commercial surveillance in Manhattan, is looking to expand its footprint and business model with the opening of its own monitoring center, which it is calling the SW24 Fusion Center, and which the company plans to begin staffing in January 2012. From the new Moonachie, N.J.-based center, SW24 has plans to expand into the residential intrusion monitoring market.

"We've got a 25,000-square-foot facility that's under construction right now. It's an existing space we've got that we're building out," Stuck said. "It's going to be a real showplace in terms of video management, video monitoring, and intrusion monitoring."

SW24's chief technology officer Gene Dellaglio explained the difference between a typical monitoring center and SW24's vision for the Fusion Center.

"For us, it's a matter of fusing different technologies and bridging the gap between public and private entities, between local, municipal, state or federal law enforcement and the public sector," Dellaglio said. "There's going to be a lot of different technologies coming in there—some central station burg or intrusion monitoring, systems monitoring, information from all the video management servers, and, in addition, all of our call support. We'll be tying in all the technologies and all the people."

Dellaglio explained how SW24 uses MOUs—memorandums of understanding—with video surveillance clients to increase the reach of law enforcement and bridge the gap between the public and private sector.

"Law enforcement agencies and first responders will approach us and they'll say, 'We're doing an investigation in the area and we'd love to access those cameras,'" Dellaglio said. "Every client we have is assigned a representative, so when we get a call from law enforcement we go to the client and explain the situation and the client signs a release and we take care of everything."

SecureWatch24 said it currently has 22,000 cameras communicating through SW24's NOC (network operations center) in place in Manhattan and in the triborough area, as well as in New Jersey and southern Connecticut. The company offers access control, guard services, executive protection services and private investigations.