Car Dealer Combats Theft and Vandalism With Optex Sensors

Cars and car parts are hot items for thieves, leaving a car dealer's inventory especially vulnerable to the most common threat to be dealt with. Sophisticated thieves know how to circumvent security systems to quickly strip or steal them. Vera Cadillac, a dealer in Pembroke Pines, Florida, wanted to combat this threat with an improved security system. The current system, using CCTV cameras connected to motion sensors, proved ineffective and easily vandalized or disabled by thieves.

ADT's Miramar branch, working with Optex, proposed a better system flexible enough to account for vegetation and natural obstacles but robust enough to foil vandalism. The system uses Redwall SIP wireless passive infrared detectors as triggers for the PTZ security cameras. Once the detectors trigger the camera, the camera records the intrusion. In addition, ADT's central monitoring station will track the event and alert local authorities and Vera Cadillac personnel.

Twelve Redwall sensors are mounted inside the perimeter on building walls nine feet above ground, making them significantly harder to tamper with. The earlier sensors were mounted outside of the perimeter fence, where they could be disabled.

Redwall SIP (Synthesized Intelligent PIR) sensors are passive infrared devices that can intelligently detect motion. The units are also equipped with anti-rotation and anti-masking functions to detect vandalism or tampering with the unit.