Self-Made Techie
Security vendors usually don’t discuss technical details with customers. Vendors prefer working with integrators, who have a more complete grasp of the technical underpinnings of software and hardware. Walter Peterson is the exception that proves the rule.
As the electronic security systems manager for the Wisconsin State Capitol Police, Peterson has an open invitation to talk directly to the folks in the tech-support group at Lexington, Mass.-based Software House. One of the few end-users to earn that privilege, Peterson has no formal background in information technology.
Peterson reports to the Chief of the Capitol Police and manages the security technology protecting 35 of Wisconsin’s state buildings, from Madison to Green Bay to Milwaukee. The technology includes a Software House C-Cure 800 access control system for 13,000 state employees; 70 closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras; six digital video recorders; and a host of door, window, and duress alarms. Peterson recently talked with Government Security about the challenges of managing security technology.
GS: How did you get your training in information technology?
Peterson: I have a bachelor’s degree in biology. The only formal IT training I’ve had was in college when I was punching holes in cards. After college, I worked in construction. In 1979, I became the first civilian dispatcher with the State Capitol Police in Wisconsin.
GS: Have you taken any technology classes?
Peterson: No. I’m self-taught. The department bought its first PC in the early 1980s. It was an old Trash 80. We went through several generations of PCs and I seemed to catch on better than most. I think that’s because I’m not afraid to read manuals. I know, I know, men aren’t supposed to read the directions, but I do.
GS: Most people would be afraid to manage a system as large as yours with what they’ve read in a manual.
Peterson: I’ve never been afraid to see what I can do with a computer. I think that if I break it, I can probably fix it. I’ve had good luck with that philosophy. I used it to learn our original VAX-based C-Cure System 1+ and to upgrade to the C-Cure 800 System that we use today.
GS: You make it sound like it isn’t very difficult, and that’s not true.
Peterson: I have a science background, and I’m a logical thinker. I’ve always dabbled in electronics and understand how electronic things work. Security technology isn’t a lot different than other kinds of technology. You have to think about the relationship between the software and the hardware.
GS: What do you mean?
Peterson: You can’t just read the manual and learn how to operate the software. You have to understand what the software makes the hardware do. When you issue a command to the access control software, what happens? At the intelligent boards, relays change and then doors lock and unlock. In our system, alarms and ADA door operators are integrated with the access controls, so you have to think about those devices too. The point is that security technology uses software to change things in the field.
GS: You make it sound simple.
Peterson: It isn’t simple. But it is logical. Last week, for example, one of our card readers stopped reading cards. Why? I looked into the problem and found that we were getting complaints about this late in the evening and early in the morning.
GS: Not during the day?
Peterson: During the day, everything was fine. So what is it that changes when it gets dark?
GS: The lights come on?
Peterson: Yes. See. You just have to think logically. We wondered if the problem started when the lights in the parking lot came on. So we tested that. Yesterday morning, we turned on the lights in the parking lot and the reader stopped working.
GS: How can that be?
Peterson: Beats the heck out of me. But by turning different lights on and off, we’ve confirmed that one of the lights is interfering with the card reader. We’ve got it narrowed down to two lights. I think it will turn out to be a defective ballast in one of the lights. We’ll find out today. After that, I’ll have to figure out why a new duress switch at one of our reception desks is causing false alarms.
GS: Some logical problem with the alarm?
Peterson: Yes. We just have to figure out which logical problem.
