Lenel Helps Protect 69th Annual Little League World Series

Little-League-World-Series
Credit: Little League International

As 16 teams from around the world converge for the 69th annual Little League World Series, Lenel, a provider of advanced security systems, is there for the 17th consecutive year helping to protect players, coaches, officials and fans. Lenel is part of UTC Building & Industrial Systems, a unit of United Technologies Corp.

Each year, Lenel contributes its technology, supplies, service, and expertise to help protect attendees of the 10-day event, which culminates this year with the world championship game on Aug. 30.

James Ferguson, director of security for Little League International, said Lenel’s annual participation is important to his department as it works to ensure the tournament’s safe conduct.

“The time, talent and resources provided by Lenel have made them a long-term and valued partner of the Little League World Series,” Ferguson said. “With the latest electronic security technology available to us, we know we are doing all we can to ensure the safety of the players, coaches, spectators and volunteers who make this an exciting global event.”

Ron Virden, general manager, electronic access control solutions at UTC Building & Industrial Systems, said Lenel is deeply committed to the youth baseball organization, which now involves more than 2.6 million children in more than 75 countries.

“The Little League World Series is an iconic summer event and it’s our privilege to help provide a safer and more secure environment for all involved,” Virden said. “Each year we ensure that Little League Baseball has the latest updates of our industry-leading OnGuard® integrated security platform and other integrated security products.”

New this year, Lenel is piloting the latest version of its Prism® open IP video management system in the tournament command center. This new version features Prism Mobile, enabling security guards in the field to remotely monitor surveillance cameras throughout the complex. Prism’s embedded Video Matrix feature allows Little League security to share video with local first responders.

Little-League-World-Series
Credit: Little League International

Upon arrival at the Little League complex, each player is enrolled in the OnGuard system and receives a photo identification badge to wear throughout the series. The badges allow players to access areas throughout the Creighton J. Hale International Grove, where they live, eat, and relax between games.

The OnGuard system also links with the complex’s video surveillance, allowing video verification of people accessing selected areas. When a person presents a badge to a card reader, live video is displayed along with the cardholder’s database photo. This enables security personnel to visually verify the person’s identity.

In addition to identity verification and safeguarding children, the OnGuard platform is safeguarding many other activities, including:

  • Locating lost children – the OnGuard system’s video analytics can help spot children that may have wandered away from The Grove or spectator areas.
  • Evacuations — the system provides a roll call ensuring that all cardholders are accounted for.
  • Averting threats and locating lost articles — OnGuard’s intelligent video algorithms can help locate lost articles, detect suspicious packages left unattended, vehicles in forbidden areas, and other out-of-the-ordinary activity.
  • Medical intervention — Sick or injured individuals can be quickly located so that medical attention can be provided.