The images provided by HD video at the Toronto landmark stadium have proven to be as clear as they were in trial demos, says Mario Coutinho, Vice-President of Stadium Operations and Security with the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club and Rogers Centre.

“It’s unbelievable,” says Coutinho. “A couple of weeks ago we had an incident on the 500 level where someone had reached into a purse and stolen someone’s wallet. They took the cash and put the wallet back in. We got the call and were able to pick up the camera footage that was recorded of the 2,000 seats in the six sections in that area and could see the whole incident from start to finish. We saw the person reach in and take the wallet out and then take the money out and put it back in the purse.”

That footage gathered was handed over to police.

“By the end of the shift they had a copy of the CD with the footage and when they went to arrest the person they already had that footage.

“We review every incident we get, and it’s not just about security but delivering all levels of service to our customers,” says Coutinho.

Rogers Centre is home to the Toronto Blue Jays and Argonauts, and also hosts events such as UFC 131, held this past April. This weekend it will welcome the Oscars of Bollywood — the International Indian Film awards — the first time it has been held in North America.

To better protect fans, artists and athletes at the Rogers Centre, the organization has invested in an Avigilon HD surveillance system, increasing coverage of the seating bowl area as well as outside surveillance.

“It is a large project because trying to view 50,000 seats is a bit of a challenge,” says Coutinho.

Before the camera upgrade this spring, the Rogers Centre used a few fixed cameras to view the playing field for 24-hour security — but they were not used for event-specific security.

“What we’ve done is change the focus. Now we have video in the seating bowl during events and it’s for use only during events. If there is no event, none of those cameras are recording — only the exterior cameras are recording,” explains Coutinho.

With a fibre network infrastructure already in place, Rogers Centre was able add the Avigilon HD system as a key element of its surveillance solution. Nineteen Avigilon HD 16MP cameras cover the entire seating bowl while a mix of Avigilon HD 1MP, 2MP, 5MP, 11MP, and 16MP cameras monitor the building’s exterior.