To meet changing safety and security surveillance needs, Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT), Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) and County Security recommends the installation of additional cameras within the 9 MCDOT parking garages to include coverage of all stairwells, lobbies, decks, rooftops and all pedestrian and vehicular entrances/exits to the garage. This will require the use of additional camera types such as 360-degree field of view cameras for parking deck coverage, 180-degree field of view cameras for rooftop coverage and License Plate Recognition (LPR) cameras at entrances and exits. This project will fund security installation in the Bethesda Parking Lot District.
MCDOT will conduct a security audit through the County's contracted parking consultation service to ensure that phasing is in line with best industry and safety/security practices. The MCDOT phasing of the enhancement of electronic security measures into the existing garage surveillance system will be spread out over a 7-year plan. This will phase installation and upgrades to focus on high-incident, high-traffic areas and to deter criminal and behavioral issues.

In the first two years, this plan will prioritize placement of LPR cameras and 1st Floor stair landings in all locations as well as placing improved network and facility infrastructure to support future enhancements. In phase II, installations on the highest occupancy decks and garages, elevator car and further stair landings, followed by low occupancy but high vagrancy decks and roofs and lastly, any remaining areas that may need improved coverage. In the final year of the plan, the existing 150 cameras that are at or beyond useful life will be upgraded.

Parking Lot districts (PLDs) have camera surveillance equipment that records 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. The original purpose of installing the camera surveillance system that includes 290 cameras, was to protect County property. These camera systems are focused primarily on the pedestrian and vehicular access points, ground level elevator lobbies and payment stations located within the parking garages.
Over the past few years there has been an increase in security incidents reported by MCDOT's contracted security patrol officers and increased requests for video footage from Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) to investigate criminal incidents that have occurred in parking garages. The number of MCPD cases supported by video footage obtained from MCDOT parking garages has increased 115% over two years.
Additionally, camera surveillance equipment and systems in many parking garages are aging and are beyond useful life, resulting in increased repair, replacement, and general maintenance costs. The majority of the 290 cameras currently installed in PLD garages are older analog and/or IP cameras, with an image quality range that is limited to between 1.3 - 4 megapixels. These cameras operate on a legacy ViconNet and Valerus software system that is connected and accessible only on the County fibernet.
It is anticipated that newer cameras will have enhanced features such as expanded fields of view, increased storage, cloud-based access to cameras, remote access from any browser or device, automatic security and software updates, person of interest and motion sensing alerts, and vehicle and people analytics, which make it easier and less time-consuming to identify relevant incidents and download video.
MCDOT projects that enhancing the existing surveillance system to extend coverage into these areas in the Bethesda PLD would require approximately 206 additional cameras to include coverage of every stairwell landing and elevator lobby, 120 deck cameras, 20LPR cameras for entrances and exits, and upgrading the existing 124 cameras that are at or beyond useful life.

FY24 supplemental in Current Revenue: General for the amount of $2,008,000.

A pedestrian impact analysis will be performed during design or is in progress. Expenditures will continue indefinitely.

Bethesda Parking Lot District, Montgomery County Police Department, County Security.