Author Archives: tensor_cctvsurveillance

  1. Britain After Dark

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    Britons are far more in favour of closed circuit television (CCTV) to fight street crime as opposed to motoring offences, an ntl:Telewest Business survey carried out by YouGov revealed.

    With one CCTV camera for every 14 people in the UK, Britons are caught on camera at least once every five minutes. Nevertheless, the majority (88 per cent) of the population are happy for CCTV to be used to fight crime.

    However, people are more ambivalent when it comes to using CCTV to catch drivers committing motoring offences. 58 per cent were in favour of monitoring car tax evaders, whilst 54 per cent lent their support to its use against speeding offenders.

    A gender gap is in evidence as more women than men are supportive of CCTV use on the roads. 82 per cent of women believed it should be used to help catch drunk drivers, in comparison with 74 per cent of men. Following the introduction of 24 hour drinking laws, more people than ever are making their way home after dark and the importance of security monitoring has risen accordingly.

    Advances in security monitoring such as CCTV over the internet (IPCCTV) aids the authorities by introducing real-time policing. High-resolution images and video can be sent directly to devices in patrol cars and to officers on the beat helping them to react to incidents more quickly.

    Another application of IPCCTV, automated number plate recognition (ANPR), triggers an alert whenever a stolen or wanted car is spotted on the road. Information on the vehicle and alleged offence are sent instantaneously to a police monitoring centre or motorway patrols, allowing for a fast apprehension of suspects.

    "ANPR is not, nor has any connection with, speed enforcement as often has been reported," said Inspector Andrew Hamilton, head of ANPR unit, Devon and Cornwall Constabulary. "Contrary to popular belief, ANPR is never used to monitor speeding cars. It is about targeting and denying criminals the use of the roads, leaving law-abiding citizens to go about their business."

    While Britons are quite happy for digital CCTV to be used to prevent car related crimes such as car theft, driving offences are much lower on their priority list. Eighty two per cent of respondents said CCTV should be used for tracking stolen cars, but only 30 per cent supported its use in enforcing the Congestion Charge.

    In addition:

    • 76 per cent of respondents believed CCTV should be used to find missing people
    • 70 per cent were in favour of using it for crowd control
    • 79 per cent would employ it to prevent shoplifting
    • 70 per cent – to track drivers leaving petrol stations without paying

    The Britain After Dark study, commissioned by ntl:Telewest Business, polled more than 2,000 UK residents about their opinions on CCTV.

  2. Upgrade Or Replace 2

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    Having discussed the functionality aspect of your CCTV security system, we will now look into the remaining two factors you should take into account when deciding whether to upgrade or replace.

    Identifying Essential Features

    While your system may be working well and have sufficient capability for expansion, it may be lacking features that are needed to effectively run your department. This can range from remote access to video files and system control, to fault tolerance for recorded images and data.

    You will also need to look into whether or not you require your CCTV system to perform tasks that your current product simply doesn’t allow. For example, if you are looking to allow limited access to your CCTV system during the peak holiday season to measure the length of the Santa line or find the car park with the most available spaces.

    Even if your system does allow limited access, you may find that you are not not compliant with all government regulations, including some that are only on the drawing board.

    In these cases, expansion or repair is usually not an option: replacement of the system, or at least a portion of the system, is required to achieve the desired results.

    One caution comes to mind: security systems are very much “utility” type products. They were purchased to perform a specific task and, in many cases, they are still doing so reliably and effectively. If your needs haven’t changed, and reliability is not an issue, beware of rushing in to upgrade software or firmware simply because the manufacturer now offers a newer version.

    The old saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” comes to mind, and the problem the manufacturer is solving may not apply in your application. They may have released a new version to solve one bug, but do you really want to be the one to discover the new bugs?

    The Future May Hold the Answer

    The final reason for performing the upgrade or replace analysis is to determine whether your CCTV systems can be expanded to the capacity you will need, and whether or not it will be cost effective to do so. Both sides of this question are equally important.

    Often systems can be expanded, but if this pushes you up against the system maximums, the next round might not be possible. If that is the case, you may want to skip this expansion and replace the head-end with one that has more headroom.

    In other cases, expansion of older systems is not cost effective. The older architecture may be expensive to incrementally scale, while a new system can offer greater capacity for less than expanding the old one. This is particularly true with older video matrix switches and some access control systems.

    Look to preserve as much of the existing infrastructure as possible when making this decision. The cost of the head-end may not be prohibitive. However, any savings may be negated if all new cabling or other accessory devices are required. Manufacturers are moving more and more toward platform interoperability. You should be able to reuse a portion of your existing system or replace it in a later budget cycle.

    Case in point: One CCTV system we are working with has called for a complete replacement. While we would like this to include everything, including eliminating oversized fixed camera housings and mounts in favour of sleek, miniaturised fixed dome cameras, the image quality is remarkably good, particularly the black-and-white cameras. So, we’ve decided to defer that portion of the system replacement to another year, focusing instead on upgrading system control and adding digital recording.

  3. Upgrade Or Replace

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    With technology rapidly advancing in the develoment of CCTV security systems, the debate over whether or not to maintain, upgrade or replace aging electronic security systems rages on. Should you maintain the status quo by performing maintenance and repairs? Upgrade a system (or portions thereof)? Or just chuck it all and replace it?

    This is not simply a technical question. For many it encompasses all areas of a security operation and requires consideration of a number of factors.

    This article is not about building or adding on to a system. Instead, it discusses the three most important factors that you should consider when making a decision on the future of your CCTV security system:

    • Functionality – is everything working as required?
    • Features – does your operation require specific features?
    • Future – does your system have the capacity to grow to accomodate future needs?

    Functionality

    Systems that are not functioning properly may be unreliable or of insufficient quality for the application. This includes:

    • Poor image quality on CCTV footage;
    • Dated export software, that restricts the viewing of CCTV footage;
    • Ambiguous representations of date and time.

    An important question to ask is, "Can it be repaired cost effectively?" Surprisingly, that question isn’t always as simple as it sounds. A system can be unreliable because of the application, hardware or installation. If it is either of the first two, you’re often better off replacing it. If the equipment isn’t right for your application, it will never be reliable. If the equipment isn’t up to the task, same answer. If the installation is at fault, you need to do some more investigating before making a decision.

    You’re better off remedying some types of problems before you rip out a system and replace it with one that performs equally poorly. These can include: the wrong type of wire was pulled, the equipment was not terminated properly, power or thermal issues, or one of a host of installation-related gremlins.

    Another question that should be asked is whether or not the CCTV equipment is approaching the end of its serviceable life. We usually think of this being age-related (monitors, for example, have a finite operating life that is often exceeded), but there are two other reasons that come to mind. The first is whether the product still exists or is supported by the manufacturer.

    The other end-of-life issue occurs when a technology is rendered obsolete and will shortly lack even basic market support. The best example of this is the multiplexer/VCR combination, which provides poor quality, low frame rate images and is subject to a host of problems that go unnoticed until there is a problem. The worst time to find out that the heads were worn on the VCRs, the tapes had not been changed or a power glitch had stopped the VCR is when there’s an incident at your facility.

    Newer technology has surpassed the realm of "nice to have" – the alternatives are so superior to tape – and has become a necessity. Other examples include DVRs that use operating systems no longer supported by the manufacturer (Microsoft®, for example, has announced the end of the road for Windows™2000) or technologies that consume more space, power and cooling than their more modern counterparts (CRT monitors, for example).

    If your facility is still hanging on to a type of technology like this, there had better be a plan in place to ensure replacement – along with a strongly written letter in a file to cover yourself when inevitable problems arise.

    The next installment of this article will appear in a fortnight, and encompasses the Features and Future aspects of your CCTV system.

  4. CCTV To Pilot In Taxis

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    CCTV security cameras are to be placed in some town centre taxis to monitor passenger behaviour as part of a pilot scheme to help protect taxi drivers from abuse.

    The pilot scheme is expected to start in December in time for the busy Christmas period using a number of CCTV cameras in black cabs and private hire taxis. There will be an evaluation of the success of the cameras in early 2007, after which talks will begin with taxi companies about how to extend the scheme further.

    The scheme has been developed jointly by the Black Cab Driver Association, the Private Hire Driver Association, the Hackney Carriage Association, and local Police forces.

    Councillor Denise Fox, Cabinet Advisor for Community Safety, said: "We believe this scheme will improve the safety of passengers and drivers and we hope that we will be able to reach some agreement with taxi companies to continue the scheme after the pilot."

    Any criminal behaviour, whether racist, an assault or robbery, will be captured on CCTV and will be used to assist criminal investigations as well as to improve safety levels.

    Mr Hafias Rehman, a member of the Hackney Carriage Association, said: "We are pleased that this scheme is now underway, it has been in development for a long time so its good to see progress being made. It should give passengers more confidence in using taxi services and also provide the drivers of cabs with greater peace of mind."

    The introduction of digital CCTV to help protect taxi drivers has followed on from a previous trial whereby CCTV was installed on fire engines in order to protect firefighters.

  5. CCTV In 14 Towns

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    There is to be a massive expansion of CCTV coverage across Northern Ireland in a bid to cut crime with 87 new CCTV cameras established in 14 town centres. It has also emerged that police and the Northern Ireland Office are looking at the possibility of introducing mobile CCTV technology to tackle street violence.

    The Government will invest £2m in the CCTV schemes, located in areas where there are long-standing problems with anti-social behaviour and crime.

    They will be erected in Ballymena, Bangor and Holywood, Coleraine, Portrush and Portstewart, Downpatrick and Newcastle, Enniskillen, Glengormley, Lisburn, Newry, Warrenpoint, Kilkeel, Newtownards, North Belfast, Omagh, Portadown and Lurgan.

    Criminal Justice Minister David Hanson said: "This will give the business community additional security in the high streets throughout Northern Ireland. The message being sent out today is very clear. We will not tolerate criminal or anti-social behaviour, you will be caught and you will be prosecuted if you take part in this activity."

    The Minister also revealed that he is also looking at other ways of using CCTV technology to tackle crime.

    He said: "I am exploring with the PSNI the possibility of introducing a number of mobile CCTV units in other areas and I have also commissioned a feasibility study for a CCTV scheme for Belfast City centre which I hope to make a further announcement about in the near future."

    Policing Board Chairman, Sir Desmond Rea, said: "People often feel safer in the knowledge that CCTV is being operated effectively in the areas within which they live and work. CCTV can act as a deterrent to those who are minded to commit crime and effective use of CCTV footage can also help the police in making arrests. Anything that contributes to a reduction in crime or the fear of crime should be welcomed."

    Assistant Chief Constable for Urban Region Duncan McCausland and Assistant Chief Constable for Rural Region Judith Gillespie both welcomed the expansion of town centre CCTV systems at the 14 locations across both regions.

    The expansion of the local town centre CCTV schemes is being launched under the title ‘Looking out for you’.

  6. Zero Tolerance On Litter Louts

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    In a bold move, Peterborough City Council plans to use its 135 CCTV cameras placed across the city to catch litter bugs in the act. Camera stills will be made public and residents will be asked to shop the culprits who will be handed a £75 fine.

    The council already spends £1.65 million a year on fighting the city’s ever growing litter problem.

    Today, Peterborough City Council leader John Peach unveiled the zero-tolerance plan that the council hopes will lead to a litter-free city. Cllr Peach said: "CCTV operators will be on the look out for anybody we suspect of dropping litter. There is no excuse for this sort of anti-social behaviour and the message is simple – bin it or face being fined."

    He added: "This scheme will give us another weapon to target those who blight our city. We want Peterborough to be a litter-free zone and will take whatever action is necessary to impress this ideal on residents and visitors. There is an army of cleaners with mechanical sweepers clearing every street in the city. Once they have got around everywhere they have to start again. Litter is a constant problem."

    The council has named three litter hot spots which will be intensely scrutinised by the councils digital CCTV systems. They include Geneva Street in the city centre, Orton Centre in Orton Waterville and the Pyramid Centre in Bretton.

    And people who drop cigarette butts are also set to come under the microscope. The council is fitting ashtrays to buildings and on bins to deter smokers from discarding cigarette butts on the ground.

    Cllr Graham Murphy, cabinet member for environment and community safety, said: "There is no hiding place for people who drop litter. These CCTV cameras are so good that they will pick the freckles off your face from the other end of Bridge Street. They will identify people who do not respect the city. And it won’t just be in the city centre. They will be in Paston, Orton, Werrington and Bretton, in every area across the city. Those caught will be shamed by their actions and it will act as a deterrent to others."

    Peterborough Council is limited in the number of officers who can walk around catching people who drop litter. CCTV footage has already proven that people clearly use litter bins and go out of their way to do so during the daytime, but Peterborough at night time is a different matter.

    A telephone number where people can ring in and identify the culprits will be made available once the photographs are published.

  7. Holidaymaker Nabs Burglars

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    A businessman on holiday in Spain was able to alert police of a raid on his home in the UK because he’d invested in an expensive net-connected digital CCTV system. Engineering boss John Ellison, 52, watched the attack on his Lancaster home unfold on a laptop PC he’d taken on holiday with him to Malaga, Spain.

    He was automatically notified (via an SMS message) that something was amiss by the £20,000 security system, which features 16 CCTV cameras, after the burglars bludgeoned their way through a conservatory door triggering installed PIR devices when they attempted to enter his £600,000 home.

    Mr Ellison reacted quickly, and had his fears confirmed as he remotely logged on to his CCTV monitoring system. He watched the raid in mounting anger for the next 40 minutes until police, notified by Mr Ellison that a raid was in progress, nabbed two of three burglars.

    One of the burglars was caught wearing a Bart Simpson mask and cowering in Mr Ellison’s bathroom. Mr Ellison has estimated that the burglars have cost around £12,000 in damage to his property.

    "They were armed with bags full of crow bars and other tools. I was livid. I could see them smashing doors and various other things," he said. "But it was wonderful to see them being marched out and their masks being pulled off. The CCTV security system is expensive but worth every penny. The police seemed impressed as I directed the operations from Spain."

    The two men caught by police raiding Mr Ellison’s home have pleaded guilty to burglary and are due to be sentenced in November. Police are still searching for the third man involved in the raid.

    By installing a remotely monitored digital CCTV system, you are able to see what’s going on at your property from virtually anywhere in the World. If you are interested in installing a CCTV security system, such as the one that Mr Ellison installed, then why not contact a member of our sales team, who would be happy to guide you in the right direction.

  8. Residents Install Covert Cameras

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    Councils across the UK are supplying householders with covert CCTV cameras so that they can amass evidence against nuisance neighbours. The devices are so small they can be hidden in pot plants or door frames and provide 24-hour surveillance to capture evidence of vandalism, threatening behaviour or abuse.

    Councils in London, West Yorkshire, Northumberland and Dundee have introduced the schemes to help to secure antisocial behaviour orders, injunctions and criminal convictions. They follow government demands that local authorities crack down on antisocial behaviour.

    The covert cameras, some no more than half an inch in diameter, can be hidden between the covers of books on windowsills facing the street or squeezed between door frames and brickwork.

    However, CCTV technology does not come cheap, with the cameras and recording equipment costing up to £2,500. But, they are able to capture 28 days of non-stop activity, and some can also be accessed remotely by the councils’ antisocial behaviour taskforces so they can take immediate action or alert the police.

    The CCTV installations have already seen good results:

    • One CCTV camera in Dundee fitted behind a door’s existing spy hole has already led to the conviction of a man who tried to smash through his neighbour’s front door with an axe;
    • A burglar in Rochdale was caught climbing in through the front window of a house by a CCTV camera set up to record less serious antisocial behaviour.

    "Once we’ve got this footage it’s impossible to claim you didn’t do it," said Darren Kennedy, community safety officer at Kirklees council in West Yorkshire which has installed more than 20 covert cameras in houses and other locations since April. "Needless to say they end up with a conviction. It is never instead of other investigative work, but it speeds it up."

  9. CCTV Protects Firefighters

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    A combination of newly installed CCTV cameras into fire engines, new powers protecting emergency workers and efforts to engage with youngsters in communities have led to a dramatic fall in the number of attacks on firefighters.

    Three CCTV cameras were installed at the end of last year after figures revealed firefighters attempting to put out blazes and save lives were increasingly being targeted by armed thugs.

    There were 84 attacks in 2005, from people armed with bricks, bottles, stones, and darts. Crews were even threatened with a replica handgun and an air rifle.

    Fire chiefs installed the CCTV cameras so they would have more chance of prosecuting attackers, but the cameras have also worked as a deterrent, with just 17 attacks this year, compared with 35 by the same time in 2005, in Lothian and Borders.

    CCTV cameras have been placed on engines going to areas where attacks are most common – including Sighthill, Newcraighall and Livingston. In Sighthill, the number of attacks has fallen from eight last year to only one so far in 2006. In Livingston, where there were four attacks in 2004, there have been none so far this year.

    Meanwhile, the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005, which made it an offence to "assault, obstruct or hinder" firefighters in the line of duty, made it easier for police and the courts to crack down on offenders. Firefighters have also been going to schools and homes in an attempt to build up a better rapport with residents and young people.

    Tom McGrath, watch manager for Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue, said digital CCTV had been critical in helping to drive down the number of attacks.

    "The CCTV cameras were funded by the city’s problem solving partnership and they have helped," Mr McGrath said. "They were introduced in November 2005 and attacks, especially at that time of year, had been quite substantial and unacceptable. They were put in as a means of protecting our staff in the three perceived biggest problem areas. We want to take people to task on what they’re doing and we have a duty of care for our own workers, so CCTV was seen as a good way of doing both."

    He also said firefighters had welcomed the Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act 2005, which has led to more than 70 people in Lothian and Borders being charged with attacks.

    The fire service also launched its service improvement plan last year for 2005-10, which promised much more community work. Craigroyston and Clovenstone primary schools, both covered by the Sighthill station, took part in a primary education school programme, which saw fire crews teach children about safety.

    David Mallin, of Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service, said: "By getting into communities and speaking to young people we are breaking down barriers and allowing them to get to know their local crew. That makes them less likely to throw missiles."

  10. Home CCTV Surveillance

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    When you monitor your home or office with CCTV surveillance, it’s like you have an entire television network devoted to the safety of your home. CCTV broadcasts your security surveillance on a private network, but unlike broadcast television, all components within your network are connected through cables and wires.

    Already popular in large public places where security is heightened, such as at airports or casinos, CCTV systems are becoming more and more widely used in private home settings as well.

    Many independent studies in the UK have suggested that CCTV surveillance acts as a powerful deterrent, stopping crimes before they happen. Studies also show strong evidence that CCTV can be an extremely effective tool in detection and prosecution.

    The same CCTV video surveillance technology used in our public venues is available for your home. We offer systems that can monitor every room in your home through dedicated CCTV cameras, which produce clear, high visibility images.

    One surveillance system can cover up to 16 rooms in your home. By monitoring your family’s security on a CCTV network, you are able to record suspicious activities as they occur. Monitor your garden, front door, garage, even your mailbox.

    We strongly believe that CCTV security is a powerful addition to your home security system. Your home is your castle, and you have the right to protect it however, CCTV is subject to laws regarding a person’s right to privacy and you want to remain on the right side of the law. Therefore, when installing a CCTV system in your home, it is important that you are certain of the legality of your surveillance.

    CCTV is inexpensive and simple to use, and it will help increase security and put your mind at ease. For more information on CCTV systems for your home, office, or factory, contact us today.