The Santa Cruz Seaside Company operates numerous hospitality and leisure businesses in California, United States. One of them is the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk amusement park which has been making people laugh and scream since 1907. Touted the "Coney Island of the West", the seaside park features about 40 rides, 30 restaurants, 15 retail shops, arcades, miniature golf, bowling, and conference and banquet facilities.

The challenge

As an admission-free park, guests can enter through multiple entrances to buy food, purchase ride tickets, or simply walk around and enjoy the surroundings. Unlike gated parks which typically have a main security checkpoint, the park’s security team must be hyper-vigilant to spot potential security incidents before they can develop. Security operators constantly monitor video cameras and work directly with field officers to handle issues.

The solution

Will Graham, Security Technology Administrator, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk said, "Using Security Center has heightened our response efficiency. Everything from video surveillance and access control to alarm management is unified— it’s just a better, more effective way to work."

Unified park security

“Using the Security Center platform, all door events are linked to video which means our team can quickly gather the information needed and solve cases faster,” said Graham.

Quick and effective response

Within Security Center, operators get an instant view of an event as it’s unfolding. So before sending an officer to check on the area, they can quickly identify if it’s a threat or a false alarm.

Easy cardholder management

Using the Synergis system, the team has set up different door schedules and rules and created over 200 cardholder groups with unique access privileges for various roles and responsibilities.

On-demand technical support

The Genetec Advantage maintenance package offers peace-of-mind. According to Graham, “It’s nice to rely on experts for tips or adjustments that ensure the highest performance of our system.”

Results

The team at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk uses the Security Center platform to manage over 400 cameras and 220 doors across the entire amusement park. From one single interface, operators actively monitor cameras and doors, respond to alarms, handle investigations, and export video evidence. This ensures that every security incident is effectively resolved without having to switch applications.

If motion is detected near a perimeter after opening hours, the platform will trigger an alarm and display live video and a 10-second replay of the event on a dispatcher’s monitor. This allows them to quickly identify if it’s an actual threat. The team has also expedited investigations by sharing system access with other departments. This includes food service, loss prevention and ticket sales who can handle their own preliminary investigations, if needed.