Place of Worship Case Study - St. Gregory Armenian Church

Place of Worship Case Study

St. Gregory Armenian Church

Overview

With increasing incidents of crime, vandalism, and public safety threats across the USA, communities face growing security concerns that necessitate proactive measures to protect residents and assets and promote a safer, more resilient environment for all. As modern security challenges encompass a wide range of threats, there is a need for robust technological solutions that can help communities respond swiftly and effectively to diverse threats.

Armenian Community Center

The Armenian Community Center in San Francisco is made up of the church and an office building that includes community space, as well as space for various cultural, social, and youth organizations to hold their activities. The Armenian community in the San Francisco Bay Area dates back to the early 1900’s and it has grown into a vibrant and well-established community. The community has always felt safe and secure within the Bay Area. Except for a few random incidents over the many years, the community never felt targeted in any way. That sense of security was shattered in 2020, when the center was set ablaze by arsonists. It was one of three incidents that law enforcement has classified as hate crimes. As the community rebuilds from those hateful acts, security has come front and center with state-of-the-art custom solutions.

Challenge

The most common security risks that community facilities have to face include:

active shooter events

break-ins

unauthorized parties sneaking into the premises

vandalism

theft

security incidents such as fights and assaults

fire hazards

slip and fall accidents

Scylla video analytics was installed at St. Gregory Armenian Church which has been very fortunate to have very few to no security situations over many decades. However, aiming to enhance their physical security against evolving threats and make their facilities safer, they needed a more robust security solution. At present, intrusion is their number one priority, specifically after hours. That is where Scylla stepped in, implementing round-the-clock monitoring of the entrances and exits of their facilities and their entire perimeter and providing instant notifications of potential threats. This allowed them to assess situations and make necessary adjustments to the security of their facilities.

Our Solution

St. Gregory Armenian Church has been using Scylla since November 2023, specifically the Perimeter Intrusion Detection, Fight Detection, and Gun Detection modules. Scylla analytics is seamlessly integrated with the existing security infrastructure and is easy to use.

Perimeter Intrusion Detection offers 24/7 monitoring of the community facilities and detection of individuals and vehicles entering the premises. As long as one of the properties has an open common space not blocked by fencing, Scylla is utilized to make their personnel aware of how frequently individuals walk in the open space around the building with their children or dogs. While not a direct security threat, it has emphasized the need for the Scylla system and enclosing the property with a hard perimeter.

Scylla Aggressive Behavior Detection is used to prevent security incidents such as fights, assaults, and other types of aggressive behavior.

Gun Detection is utilized to protect the residents against active shooter events. It is designed to identify a wide variety of firearms in real-time and track the gunman across the connected cameras even when the weapon has been hidden.

Customer testimonial

“Scylla AI video analytics have performed above and beyond our expectations and have been very easy to use. Prior to the installation of Scylla, we had cameras installed that were low quality and had no remote access, and the data was saved for a very limited amount of time. Scylla gives us 24/7 remote access, provides notifications when there are security activities, and stores the data for months at a time. Due to Scylla’s advanced solutions, we have more situational awareness than ever before and look forward to continuing our work with Scylla to expand usage on our sites as we host larger events and work to make our facilities safer.”

Board of Directors

The Armenian Community Center