LOUISVILLE, Ky.--In preparation for 2009's three-week Kentucky Derby celebration, the city of Louisville is using long-range cameras to monitor its waterfront.

The waterfront area is the home to one particular pre-race event, Thunder over Louisville, which is dubbed as the largest annual pyrotechnic display in North America. More than 500,000 people are expected to watch the fireworks show.

Sergeant John Butts, who oversees the city's surveillance technologies for the Louisville Metro Police Department and employs a full-time staff of sworn detectives who operate the city's surveillance system, said the city had secured a Homeland Security grant for river security. The grant was used to purchase Vumii's long-range day/night surveillance technology specifically for the upcoming Kentucky Derby events.

"Anytime you bring a half a million people together it is always a mess," he said. "But it puts us on the map."

Police will use the solution to monitor the riverfront, which is largely unlit. The camera technology works by using a near-infrared laser to illuminate an area and produces a high-resolution image that can be captured by standard video equipment.

The current focus is using the solution to manage Derby crowds and keep an eye on possible boat accidents. "In the future, it may mitigate [crimes] but because of the funding right now we are coordinating rescue efforts and focusing on homeland security endeavors."

Butts said many cities use to send technical staff to different trade shows to investigate new technologies but in today's declining economy many police department's funding for travel to trade shows has been reduced. During an interview with Security Director News, he said he wanted to share his story to give other law enforcement professionals the opportunity to learn about the applicability of Vumii's technology.

Randall Foster, chief executive officer of Vumii, said the product works for organizations looking to gather nighttime data in large outdoor environments, such as commercial industrial segment and gas utilities and transportation sites.

"We're focused on providing really valuable and useable video to end users," he said.