Midwest Technology CEO on solving remote video security challenges with Luminys

Turkey Mountain is a unique site—and unique sites sometimes need security solutions that live up to their uniqueness. We talked to Jon Harden, CEO, Midwest Technology, who’s company helped increase security and safety in the Urban Wilderness Area of roughly 750 acres (300ha) entirely within the city limits of Tulsa, Oklahoma—a true edge case of remote site security for public parks and recreational spaces.
 
asmag.com: Your project at Turkey Mountain is quite unique in the video security space. Can you tell us a bit about the site and what motivated park authorities to team up with Luminys to secure it?
 
Jon Harden: Turkey Mountain in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is a large public park with more than 750 acres of wooded terrain, extensive trail systems, multiple access points, and limited existing video coverage. Before this project, park officials had limited visibility into key areas of the property, particularly after hours. The park had only a small number of cameras in place, and those systems could not always provide usable footage at night. This made it difficult to verify and review reported incidents, after-hours activity, vandalism, and unauthorized vehicle access.
 
Tulsa River Parks Authority needed a cost-effective solution that could improve visibility across selected areas of the park while supporting remote monitoring and incident review. At Midwest Technology, we led the design and integration of the solution. Working closely with the Luminys team, we selected and integrated Luminys video security technology to address the park’s terrain, connectivity, and monitoring requirements.
 
Video security coverage across Turkey Mountain expanded to more than 30 cameras placed across selected trails, parking areas, and access points. As part of that broader network, our team worked closely with Luminys to integrate cameras, intelligent video search, PTZ visibility, analytics, and configurable deterrence capabilities. Together with the off-grid network engineered by our team, the solution gave the Authority better visibility into key areas, especially after posted hours.
 
asmag.com: The site is characterized by its vastness and lack of infrastructure. What technological and operational challenges had to be overcome and how did you do it?
 

Jon Harden: The scale of the deployment, the wireless design, and the off-grid implementation made this a unique technological and operational project.
 
Turkey Mountain presented several challenges. The terrain is expansive, heavily wooded, and difficult to access. We addressed these challenges by engineering an off-grid video security network supported by solar power and wireless connectivity. To establish reliable wireless connectivity, the team carefully positioned network equipment around the park’s terrain and cleared limited vegetation where necessary to improve signal paths.
 
Physical access to equipment locations was also challenging. Some areas could not be reached by vehicle, so equipment and tools had to be transported by bike, trailer, tractor, or by hand.
 
Our team designed and installed the network, including the power systems, wireless connectivity, elevated tower construction, and system integration needed to connect key areas of the park. We then integrated Luminys video technology into the design based on the site’s terrain, visibility needs, and monitoring requirements.
 
asmag.com Efficient automation is especially important at remote sites where continuous staffed monitoring may not be practical. What role does AI play in the solution you provided?
 
Jon Harden: We selected Luminys AI-powered video analytics to support the park’s after-hours monitoring needs. At selected parking areas and trail entrances, configured cameras can detect relevant person or vehicle activity and notify authorized personnel.
 
PTZ functionality can help keep relevant activity in view, while intelligent video search allows authorized users to locate potentially relevant recorded clips more efficiently than manual timeline review. Configurable visual or audible deterrence features can also support monitoring needs after posted hours.
 
Through our work with River Parks Authority, we saw how intelligent search of recorded video provided a faster way to locate relevant footage. Together, these capabilities help support event verification, after-hours monitoring, and more efficient review.
 
asmag.com: Integration with law enforcement tends to pose special requirements for systems where this is needed. How did that integration come together, technically and operationally?
 
Jon Harden: One objective was to make relevant video easier to access for authorized stakeholders when incidents needed review. We coordinated with park officials, IT stakeholders, and the organizations responsible for the existing video environment to address the technical and operational requirements of the deployment.
 
Where approved, our team configured browser-based access for authorized users, including designated personnel connected to the Tulsa Police Department’s Real Time Information Center. The goal was to support efficient access to relevant video and improve situational awareness across selected areas of a large, difficult-to-patrol park.
 
asmag.com: The way the Turkey Mountain project was sponsored and procured strikes me as quite unique. Can you tell us a bit about that?
 
Jon Harden: What makes the Turkey Mountain deployment especially unique is that the initial phase of the project was supported by $80,000 in private donations, allowing it to move forward without relying entirely on a new municipal budget allocation.
 
That funding model helped the project move quickly while still requiring a practical design that could work within the realities of the site. For a large outdoor park with limited power, limited connectivity, and difficult physical access, the solution had to be cost-conscious, flexible, and designed around the environment from the beginning.
 
asmag.com: What would you say to park authorities in other areas that are seeking to increase security at similar sites? Can a deployment like Turkey Mountain be replicated, and what role can Luminys play in this? What is your main takeaway from the project?
 
Jon Harden: Turkey Mountain shows that even a large, remote park with limited existing infrastructure can benefit from a video security design built around its specific needs. The key is to design around the realities of the site rather than trying to force a traditional model into an environment where power, connectivity, and physical access are limited.
 
A similar approach can be applied to other parks, but every deployment should start with a clear understanding of the location, how people use it, and where visibility is most important. Luminys supports that process with video security technology that gives integrators flexibility across remote monitoring, intelligent video search, PTZ visibility, analytics, and configurable deterrence.
 
For me, the biggest takeaway is that thoughtful design and the right technology can help park operators improve awareness, review relevant events faster, and support after-hours monitoring while preserving the open and accessible nature of the space.