“Caught on Camera”: Museum Security Best Practices as Taught through Real Video Surveillance Footage”
Monday, April 24, 2017, 2-4 pm
Windsor Historical Society, 96 Palisado Avenue, Windsor, CT
$15 CLHO Members; $20 Non-Members
How do small and mid-size museums create an effective program of museum security? The challenge to keep the visitor safe, protect the valuable artifacts and mitigate against loss or damage to the museum buildings and their contents are real life problems that often seem insurmountable, especially when staff is small or non-existent, and dollars are scarce. If these concerns keep you up at night, join us for this presentation by Austin Sharpe, CIPM, CISS, Director of Security at the Addison Gallery of American Art and Dan Lazuta, owner of Acuity-VCT.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, the moving image will prove even worthier of the task. Participants will look at never before seen surveillance footage highlighting hair- raising incidents that are happening in museums but are not openly discussed.
Discussion will focus on appropriate responses, prevention strategies, and mitigating damage to artwork and artifacts. Together, we will look at the importance of a properly trained staff - whether paid or volunteer - by examining real-time disasters and the responses taken.
Austin Sharpe, Director of Security at the Addison Gallery of American Art on the campus of Phillips Academy, has been protecting cultural property for over seventeen years. He is a graduate of the Northeast Regional Police Academy and has lectured on museum security protocols and procedures at the national level. He currently serves as President of the International Foundation for Cultural Property Protection, New England Chapter.
In January of 2014, Austin was awarded the prestigious Andover Accolades Award for his involvement in developing a campus wide security initiative for access control and surveillance solutions across campus. Austin has also worked as a Police Officer in a nearby coastal community and has developed turnkey solutions for the protection of paintings and other cultural property assets.
Dan Lazuta was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio where he attended Padua Franciscan Catholic High School. He went on to graduate from Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, Ohio in 1984 with a Business Administration and Psychology Double Major. For the last 11 years Dan has been a Principal of Acuity-VCT, a leading company that makes video based object protection and surveillance systems. Because of this, Dan is a frequent speaker at security seminars around the U.S.
