Featured Projects

Northeast

New York’s Division of Design and Construction has completed Phase 1 implementation of corrective security measures to the Crossroads Juvenile Center in Bronx and the Horizon Juvenile Center in Brooklyn for touch screen control, wireless duress systems, intercommunication, and emergency egress control. Professional Systems Engineering (PSE) worked through URS Corporation of New York City with the Using Agency, New York’s Juvenile Justice Commission. The $2 million Phase 1 upgrade will be followed by a $2 million Phase 2 upgrade to incorporate further improvements such as perimeter detection integration and other items.

New Jersey’s Division of Property Management and Construction (DPMC) through the State’s Revenue Office has completed construction management services for the Department of Correction’s Bayside State Prison in Cumberland County, New Jersey. The $4 million renovation included complete pneumatic systems and slider replacement by Norment Industries and Trentech of Montgomery, Alabama. PSE was selected by DPMC to perform the sophisticated, highly complex and phased initiation to allow full occupancy during a 500-cell renovation without skipping a beat. Complexity to the phasing components included lead testing and abatement which called for considerable adjustments to inspection, testing, and contract completion. Norment provided complete replacement of 500 pneumatic sliders in addition to PLC control housing unit, by housing unit.

Philadelphia area PSE has completed two highly recognized forensic psychiatric facilities in the nation. CTPHC located in Jessup, Maryland, is a detention-grade facility where violent offenders with histories of extreme felonies are sent when psychiatric illness impacts their ability to be housed in the general population. The extremely sophisticated detention control and monitoring includes network video, hundreds of wireless duress receivers, full nurse call integration with secure intercom, digital IP surveillance video, a digital control center for sophisticated recording of all analog and digital events and communications, as well as welded mesh fencing for perimeter control. The $5 million electronic security electronics enhancement is in addition to the $10 million housing component of the project completed by Bushey Feight Morin Architects of Hagerstown, Maryland.

Saint Elizabeth Hospital is the national psychiatric facility located in Washington, DC where many high profile federal felons have been housed over the years. Its new use, in addition to housing special offenders, will be to house patients in event of serious terrorism or events of a national emergency when society’s at-risk population becomes overwhelmed with mental distress. St. Elizabeth’s has a long history of housing offenders including John Hinckley, the attempted assassin of Ronald Reagan. The $130 million expansion includes $15 million of physical and electronic security to be provided by Professional Systems Engineering and includes three kinds of physical perimeter fence, multiple detection layers, complete card access control, specialized security lighting, RF wireless duress, and digital video.

South

Commissioners in Travis County, Texas, approved the appointment of PSE to provide life safety analysis and design for 500 cells in the Austin, Texas, city detention center. The complex life safety project includes detection and evacuation of smoke within 60 seconds after activation. The firm’s expertise in life safety and specialized correctional application allowed Travis County to incorporate the recent renovation to its smoke evacuation and pressurization system throughout the high-rise facility.

Midwest

Commissioners of Franklin County in Ohio have authorized expenditure of $100 million for new buildings and site improvements for a state-of-the-art County courthouse. DesignGroup of Columbus, Ohio was awarded the prime architectural contract for development of all programming and construction documents. Ricci Greene Associates of Lexington, Kentucky provided the courts programming while Arquitectonica, Miami, Florida, provided services as the Signature Architect for the upscale, modernist design. PSE provided physical and electronic security including building explosive and ballistic protection analysis, electronic security engineering services, and courts security consulting for this major expansion.

Pacific

Alameda County in California recently completed its $130 million juvenile justice and courts addition, highlighted in the May/June 2007 issue of Correctional News. PSE provided all commissioning of security systems including touch screen control, access control, duress systems, detention and interlock controls, as well as evacuation scenarios. The on-site work by the firm included monitoring and control commissioning of every single moving part and monitoring device with 100% satisfaction by all code officials, agencies and multiple layers of contractors. San Francisco architectural firm, Enovity, Inc., was designated the prime consultant for the commissioning agent service directly to Alameda County.