http://www.viisage.com/january_29_2001.htm
Press Releases | News About Viisage
GRAPHCO TECHNOLOGIES, INC. Provides Surveillance for Raymond James
Stadium to Identify Known Suspects, Deter Crime
On January 28th, Criminals No Longer Another Face in the Tampa Stadium Crowd
Tampa, Florida, January 29, 2001 -Graphco Technologies, Inc. (G-TEC),
a leading developer of technology and solutions for biometric
authentication, secure access, and expert information-sharing
systems, announced today that they provided a surveillance and facial
recognition system at both the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa and at
Ybor City, Florida. The system was in place from January 21 - January
28, 2001 to monitor potential criminal activities during the sporting
events and related activities at the two locations.
In cooperation with the Tampa Sports Authority, Graphco Technologies
partnered with Raytheon Company's (NYSE: RTNA, RTNB) Linthicum,
Maryland office, Viisage Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: VISG), and VelTek
International, Inc., to provide its FaceTrac facial recognition
system to the Tampa Police Department and other federal, state and
local law enforcement agencies.
"Not everyone comes to sporting events with good intentions," says
David Watkins, G-TEC's Managing Director, "The multiple distractions
at the nation's premier athletic events provide criminals with
opportunities to engage in a variety of illegal activities. G-TEC's
facial recognition system provided the Raymond James Stadium with a
superior surveillance system that not only captures images of
individuals but also compares their facial features against a
database of known felons."
The FaceTrac core facial recognition technology provides the ability
to locate faces, to build 'face print' templates and to recognize
matches to images stored in a database. When integrated with G-TEC's
law enforcement database, FaceTrac allows rapid search, comparison
and identification of suspect facial photos within the database.
FaceTrac may be used for surveillance with multiple locations
networked to a high capacity site, for analysis and system-search
results. G-TEC installed FaceTrac at the Raymond James Stadium as a
single site system, integrated with a custom designed database and
search result notifications for tracking faces in a crowd and
monitoring access to secure areas.
Tom Colatosti, Viisage President and CEO said, "Places where large
crowds are present, such as sporting events, are tempting targets for
all types mischief, criminal behavior and larger threats. Using
patented Viisage technology, G-TEC has introduced a new generation of
tools for law enforcement officials to more effectively and
non-intrusively provide for public safety. As an integral partner in
the project, Viisage Technology provided G-TEC with the industry's
leading and most robust face-recognition technology."
Viisage Technology's FaceFINDER software drives the FaceTrac
surveillance and identification process. Viisage's industry-leading
face-recognition technology has the world's largest image database
deployment in surveillance and investigative applications. Viisage
also provided the project with image acquisition and integration
technology and services.
During the week of January 21st, G-TEC deployed the FaceTrac system
throughout the Raymond James Stadium to detect and identify
individuals who are wanted or suspect, and may present a danger to
the public. Using standard cameras to recognize human faces during
entry to the sporting event, FaceTrac continuously compared faces in
the incoming crowd to an extensive, customized database of known
felons, terrorists, and con artists provided by multiple local, state
and federal agencies. A law enforcement task force of local, state
and federal agency personnel monitored the system. Once individuals
were matched with photo files in the database, officers of the joint
task force, circulating throughout the complex, could be dispatched
immediately to make possible arrests, quickly and discreetly.
In addition to installing cameras supplied by VelTek International at
the Raymond James Stadium, G-TEC adapted its FaceTrac capability to
cameras in Ybor City, Florida to oversee the celebrations before and
after the athletic events. Raytheon Company, a global developer and
supplier of high-tech products and services, and a G-TEC partner,
provided sophisticated cameras and expertise to provide police with
exceptional night vision capabilities for poorly lit or darkened
areas in Ybor City.
G-TEC, headquartered in Newtown, PA, develops, manufactures, and
markets secure database and secure communications systems worldwide.
G-TEC combines information sharing, biometric authentication, secure
access, and secure data facility technologies to provide technical
infrastructure and applications in support of public and private law
enforcement, corporate security, manufacturing, and secure
web-enabled virtual communities. G-TEC's Intrapol Analysis Center
offers secure-access data storage, sharing, and secure virtual
community systems to corporate and law enforcement entities at the
local, regional, state, national, and international levels. Graphco
Technologies is located on the World Wide Web at www.graphcotech.com.
Viisage Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: VISG), Littleton, Massachusetts, is
a world leader in biometric face-recognition technology and in
digital identification solutions. Viisage's face-recognition
technology is widely recognized as the most convenient, non-intrusive
and cost-effective biometric available. Viisage's patented
face-recognition technology, originally developed at MIT, and its
systems integration and software design capabilities, improve
personal convenience, privacy and security while deterring identity
theft and fraud.
Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTNA, RTNB), based in Lexington, Mass., is a
global technology leader that provides products and services in the
areas of commercial and defense electronics, business and special
mission aircraft. The company is now successfully expanding its
defense technologies into non-defense sectors such as air traffic
control, data, image and information management, transportation and
communications. Raytheon's Linthicum, Maryland office has expertise
in network security and large system development and deployment for
both national intelligence and commercial customers, and is the
primary Raytheon branch that supported G-TEC's surveillance efforts
at the Raymond James Stadium. Additional information is available at
www.raytheon.com
Veltek International, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of Closed
Circuit Television and security related equipment. Veltek currently
offers over 250 different CCTV products through worldwide
distribution including standard and specialty video cameras,
housings, video signal, remote transmission, digital video streaming
and digital storage equipment.
FaceTrac is a trademark of Graphco Technologies, Inc. FaceFINDER is a
trade mark of Viisage, Inc,
Corporate Information | Face Recognition | Systems Integration |
Contact us | Home 1999-2000 Viisage Inc. all rights reserved.
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