What to know about security cameras in Scottsdale
Scottsdale police run a free camera registry
Police keep CamerEyes, a free, voluntary registry where businesses list their security cameras. Police get your contact information only, not access to your cameras. The city says registering is not required, and the form asks how long you keep video, so retention is worth settling before you sign up.
Bars and live entertainment file a police plan
Bars and live-entertainment venues file a Security, Maintenance and Operations Plan with police as a condition of their use permit. If you run an A-2, A-3 or A-4 assembly business and check age at the door, use a DJ or use a promoter, you need a police-approved Public Safety Plan, and you can't operate without it. The plan stays with the location and the owner.
Source: City of Scottsdale, Security Plan for bars and live entertainment
The plan ordinance doesn't list cameras, but police can add conditions
The required contents of a Public Safety Plan include a floor plan, crowd management, staffing and evacuation routes. Cameras and video recording are not on that list. The ordinance does let the Chief of Police require additional criteria, so a camera condition in your own plan is possible. Ask your police contact before you buy.
Camera wiring is not on the permit exemption list
Scottsdale's amended exemption list for electrical work names only minor repairs and maintenance. It lists no exemption for low-voltage, data or security wiring, and starting electrical work before the permit is issued doubles the permit fee. We confirm with Permit Services at 480-312-2500 how your job is handled before work starts.
What a business camera system includes
A commercial system has four parts: cameras, a recorder, the network that connects them and a way to view video. Most cameras today are IP cameras on power over Ethernet (PoE), which means one network cable carries both power and video. That keeps the install clean and lets us put a camera wherever a cable can reach.
The recorder, called an NVR, stores the video. It sits in your office, back room or network rack. Some businesses add cloud storage for a second copy of important clips.
Where cameras go
We start with what you need to see, then place cameras to see it. The usual spots are the front door, the register or host stand, the bar back, the patio, the kitchen entry, the office door, the back door and the parking lot.
- Entry cameras should face the person, not the sun. Backlit doorways are the most common reason video is useless.
- Wide-angle cameras cover a room. Narrower lenses read faces and license plates at a distance.
- Low-light cameras matter in a bar. Peak hours in Scottsdale's safety-plan ordinance are presumed to be 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, so the dark hours are when you need the video.
- Outdoor cameras need to be rated for Arizona sun and dust.
Storage, retention and viewing
How long you keep video decides how big the recorder is. Thirty days of a dozen cameras needs far more storage than seven days of four. Tell us how long you want to keep footage, since the CamerEyes form asks for it as well, and we size the drives to match.
Owners and managers can view live and recorded video from a phone. We set up separate logins, so a manager can pull a clip without having access to settings. Video from a bad night is easy to export when police or an insurer asks.
Cameras for Scottsdale venues
Old Town's Entertainment District is a dense run of bars and clubs, and the city has mounted its own cameras and noise sensors on new street-light poles there. Your cameras cover what the city's don't: your door line, your patio, your bar and your cash handling.
If your venue has a Public Safety Plan, we plan cameras around the layout in that plan, with the entrance, any age check and the exits covered. Scottsdale requires security staff to take the city's police and fire training, and clear video of the door helps them do their job.
Install and aiming
- Walk the rooms, ceilings and cable paths, and find your network equipment.
- Draw each camera, what it sees and where the recorder sits.
- Install around your business hours.
- Aim and test each camera at the hour it matters, including after dark.
- Set up phone access and logins. Service runs Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM.
Doors, cabling and backup
Cameras typically go in with door access control, so entry logs and video line up, and with structured data cabling when new runs are needed. A backup internet line keeps remote viewing alive if your main connection drops. More on the Scottsdale page. Call (602) 769-7992 to schedule a walkthrough.
