Sweet 16 riot leads to more interest in new security system at University of Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky.—A security system installed by Dallmann Systems led to the arrest of three students who set fire to a car during a riot that ensued after the University of Kentucky beat Louisville in the April 1 NCAA Sweet 16 game. Publicity from the incident has also generated interest in expanding the security system, said Dallmann Systems CEO Tom Dallmann.

“We had the satisfaction of seeing our installation at work,” Dallmann said.

Local media reported extensively on how the security system worked during the campus riots. “It created quite a bit of buzz around the university. [Managers of some facilities on campus that are not yet part of the system] saw what the system can do and said, 'I have this little problem in my building' and now they want to be part of the system,” Dallmann said.

An integrator based in Jeffersonville, Ind., with a branch office here, Dallmann Systems is finishing up a $3.7 million installation, the first phase of a multi-year project at the university here.

The installation involved a new access control and video system built on a Next Level Security Systems unified security management system. In the process, Dallmann issued 60,000 new ID cards to UK staff and students, and installed access and video in 18 buildings on campus.

After the UK basketball team defeated Louisville, students took to the street and three students set fire to a vehicle. “The really cool thing is that because of the extensiveness of the video systems all over the campus … the UK police department was able to follow [the perpetrators] all over campus using 26 different cameras,” Dallmann said.

There are 400 cameras across the campus. University police “tracked the students live” and collected incriminating video evidence from 26 of those cameras, he said.

Dallmann Systems is also currently working on building an updated command post “with video walls and an elaborate setup for monitoring cameras.”

The first phase involved securing 18 academic buildings. The second phase, which Dallmann is in the middle of now and expects to complete in June, involves securing health care facilities on campus. “We're in the process of converting 936 doors and 287 cameras, [taking down the old system] and installing access control and gateways so the academic [buildings] and health care buildings are on one common platform,” Dallmann explained.

“On top of that, we have a unit price contract with the university, all buildings that were not part of the original RFP can add their building to the system,” he said. Right now his team is installing access and video in six different buildings, ranging from the golf training facility to a hospital pharmacy to the president's office.

Dallmann is also in the bidding process for the security portion of a $100 million renovation of UK's Commonwealth Stadium, which will entail another 100 doors and 100 cameras and will have to be completed in time for football season.

Two staff members, likely a technician and project manager, who will be dedicated solely to working at UK. “We will migrate employees who have been there over a year, who know the system intimately, know how to keep it running and who also know the procedures of the university. It's a logical transition,” Dallmann explained, and one that makes sense financially for the university.

In addition to bringing kudos to Dallmann Systems, Dallmann said the publicity about the security systems' role in the capture of the student arsonists “is certainly good publicity for the [security] industry,” showing the UK administration and the general public “that the university got value for the dollars spent on this security system.”