Security at the 2018 Little League Baseball World Series

Five manufacturers of security technologies have teamed up to provide safety and security at the 72nd Annual Little League Baseball World Series (LLBWS) for the players, coaches and fans. For the first time, BriefCam and Ruckus Networks, an ARRIS Company are joining Axis Communications, Lenel and Milestone Systems to provide video surveillance systems, access control and network connectivity for the 10-day tournament.

These five technology providers have come together to develop a comprehensive security strategy for the 16 Little League Baseball teams and worldwide fans participating in the World Series from Aug. 16 to 26, 2018, held in South Williamsport, Pa.

“Each year, hundreds of thousands of people come out to Williamsport to enjoy their time at the Little League Baseball World Series,” Jim Ferguson, Little League assistant director of risk management and safety, said in a prepared statement. “Along with the safety of all of 16 participating teams, our top priority during the Little League Baseball World Series is to provide a safe and secure facility for visitors from all over the world to enjoy. Thanks to these providers, we can continue to offer all of our fans, players, and volunteers a fun and safe location to create lifelong memories and exciting experiences during their visit.”

BriefCam, one of the newest contributors, is providing the company's latest video content analytics platform to this year's Little League Baseball World Series security solution. BriefCam's groundbreaking video content analytics platform detects, tracks, extracts and identifies people, objects, their attributes and behavior from raw video feeds. By presenting objects that have appeared at different times within the video simultaneously, BriefCam enables security operators to review hours of video in minutes.

For the LLBWS, this means if children and parents are accidentally separated during the event, the security team will be well equipped to potentially locate and reunite related parties more quickly, the announcement noted. Additionally, BriefCam's solution can be used to optimize operations such as attendee and vehicle traffic flows to ensure a safe and positive guest experience. The company's video content analytics platform aligns with Axis IP-based digital video surveillance cameras and Milestone's XProtect video management software for a comprehensive video surveillance, management and analytics solution.

“As this global event draws families from far and wide, it is important to further enable comprehensive safety, security and operational efficiencies,” Stephanie Weagle, CMO for BriefCam, said in a prepared statement. “Our technology will be on-hand to support the Little League in their endeavor to extract actionable intelligence from their video surveillance in the event that parents or family members need assistance in finding each other or streamlining operations to ensure that all involved have a great experience.”

Ruckus Networks, the second newest technology contributor, is providing a wireless mesh backhaul to deliver connectivity to both the scoreboards and surveillance cameras. Ruckus is deploying its T300 access points (APs), along with its SmartZone™ 100 management controller, to help ensure seamless connectivity for the outdoor environment. The T300s—the Ruckus flagship outdoor APs—allow high-definition video over Wi-Fi, enabling every video stream to be captured. For the LLBWS, this capability allows all the video cameras in the stadium to be constantly streaming, helping to ensure maximum safety and security at all times.

“In a digitally connected world, safety and security are critical elements that need to be part of every network,” Bart Giordano, vice president, worldwide business development and cloud for Ruckus Networks, an ARRIS company, said in the announcement. “We are teaming with other companies to bring the most innovative security capabilities to the games so that every family can feel safer onsite. Our robust wireless technologies ensure every video stream is captured from all cameras, at all times, helping make this annual event fun and secure.”

Axis Communications has provided technology for the Little League for nine years and is providing AXIS Q6128-E PTZ Network Camera, a compact, outdoor-ready PTZ dome, offering 4K resolution at 30 frames per second, 12x optical zoom and autofocus. The 4K resolution provides four times as much detail as the standard HDTV 1080p resolution, improving the video quality significantly. Both of these cameras will be integrated into the scoreboard in Lamade Stadium.

"Each year we look forward to evolving the security system by leveraging the newest technology in the industry," Robert Muehlbauer, senior manager, business development partner ecosystem at Axis Communications, said in a prepared statement. "The total solution provides a comprehensive system to help keep players and fans safe so they can enjoy America's favorite pastime, baseball. We are proud to collaborate with all of the companies involved and to continue our work with Little League Baseball.”

For the 20th consecutive year, Lenel, a leading provider in advanced security systems, will provide its OnGuard access control platform. Players, coaches, officials, staff and vendors are all enrolled in the system and receive a photo identification badge providing access to predetermined areas. The system is integrated with the Axis surveillance cameras so when someone presents a badge at one of the access card readers, live video and the cardholder's photo are displayed on a nearby monitor, allowing a guard to authenticate the identification.

Milestone is providing its XProtect Corporate video management software, which is installed along with a Milestone Husky™ M500A NVR as one of the recording servers. The XProtect Smart Client interface includes advancements in system performance by leveraging the processing power of NVIDIA GPU cards for measurable hardware acceleration, enabling more concurrent High Definition or Ultra HD video streams on high-resolution monitors. The LLBWS is also using the XProtect® Smart Wall for viewing and sending pertinent video to monitors around the facilities, including a mobile command center. BriefCam is embedded in the XProtect Smart Client with a dedicated screen tab for easy access to search hours of video in just minutes.

“It's truly inspiring to see the open platform community of partners coming together for this great international family event, ensuring safety through ongoing technology innovations,” Jeremy Scott, strategic alliances manager, Americas for Milestone Systems, said in the announcement. “Every year brings new winners — on the field, in the stands and behind the scenes.”