CdA to monitor art with cameras
A Washington Internet Protocol Security company is sending surveillance cameras to Coeur d’Alene to keep moose vandals at bay.
The cameras, donated by Toshiba through D3Data LLC of Mill Creek, Wash., will be able to view, record and manage networked surveillance of the fiberglass moose erected by the
EXCEL Foundation May 26.
Managing partner of D3Data, Christopher Hills, originally from Sanders, Idaho, saw the vandalism while in town on a family emergency during Memorial Day weekend.
“I started researching our technology to see if we could implement it immediately in Coeur d’Alene,” he said from his office near Seattle.
Hills tapped into Toshiba and secured 23 high-end cameras to loan the foundation during the remaining days of moose display. The cameras will be returned when the art is taken off display in September to be auctioned.
Two moose have been vandalized and one stolen since May 31.
“Weekends are tough,” said Darrell Dlouhy, co-chair of the technical crew responsible for moving, storing and setting up the moose. “On weekends we just cringe.”
Dlouhy, who has recently been seeking out bids for manned security, is counting down the 95 days left of public display.
With no leads and no response to a $5,000 reward leading to arrest and conviction of the vandals, Dlouhy hopes the new cameras will deter future vandalism.
“We’d just as soon not have it happen,” said Dlouhy. If the fear of being watched deters vandals, he said, “that would be ideal in my mind.”
The indoor and outdoor cameras will use high-speed Internet to transmit images to Web sites and can be set up to notify key people by e-mail or text messaging if a person comes within a few feet of a moose. A few cameras are already on the way, and the remainder will come as high-speed Internet is set up nearby.
“It builds another tier of peer pressure not to touch them,” Hills said.
The cameras will be installed by Jim Monroe, owner of Intermountain Security in Coeur d’Alene.
A No Moose Left Behind citizen’s fund has been set up with US Bank to offset surveillance costs.