News

Respecting Employee Privacy Rights

The loss of employee privacy rights in the workplace is a growing concern among employees, lawyers, and civil libertarian groups. Although employers in banks, telecommunications, securities exchange, in hi-tech industries, and in other workplaces justify using video surveillance in the workplace to monitor employee behavior to chiefly promote safety, improve productivity, and stop theft, protecting employee privacy must be a top concern.

New Benchmark For CCTV

A new magazine called Benchmark has just been launched, which is dedicating itself to establishing a performance index for electronic surveillance products and solutions.

Benchmark are looking to create this index by group-testing various CCTV components and technologies, and by conducting on-site assessments of CCTV systems. The aim is to create an index that is quick and easy for readers to check performance data on CCTV products and components.

CCTV Security Systems In Reducing Crime

Since the July 7th London bombings, CCTV security systems across the world have been examined with greater scrutiny and with greater expectations for reducing crime.

Although not a panacea for preventing crime, many CCTV systems have been successful at reducing some types of crimes like property crime, for acting as a deterrent in car parks or in other public places, and for making citizens feel safer. However, the results are mixed when addressing violent crimes and when the crimes involve alcohol.

CCTV Installed In Schools

Having installed a digital CCTV system in a primary school in Bradford for security reasons, the staff soon realised that they could use the CCTV footage to analyse classroom practice and performance of both students and teachers.

"The beauty of using CCTV as a teaching aid in addition to using it for security reasons is that the CCTV cameras are already there, so there’s no extra equipment or set-up time required," says Peter Steele, the headteacher.

New Guides On Vandalism Released

The Home Office has published a series of 5 short practical guides through its crime reduction website, to help businesses and organisations tackle vandalism and criminal damage.

Each guide is short and snappy at only 4 pages long, and addresses practical issues, illustrating its points with pen picture case studies.

The titles of the guides are:

The Most Closely Watched Nation

When you are next walking through any of London’s Underground stations, take a moment to scan your eyes upwards to the ceiling and you shall see them. Some will be obvious in their rectangular white housing, others disguised behind black domes.

There are more than 6,000 CCTV cameras across London’s Tube network, which transport bosses say will rise to 12,000 over the next five years.

CCTV For Cheeky Motorists

How many times have you been stuck in a queue of traffic waiting to get in or out of a busy town centre, when a cheeky motorist zooms past you in the empty bus lane. Have you ever felt tempted to follow that motorist yourself? What do you have to lose?

Well, be warned. This practice is illegal and the likeyhood of you being caught has now significantly increased as town councils look to digital CCTV to monitor their bus lanes and no-waiting areas.

Burglars Install CCTV

A recent prison survey has revealed that 29% of burglars have installed some kind of digital CCTV system in their own homes, compared to just 4% of the rest of of us. Similarly, 43% of burglars have a home intruder alarm system, compared to just 34% of all households.

Technology Solving Crime

There are 4 million CCTV cameras in the UK – one for every 15 of us. It is thought, on average, that each one of us is captured on film 300 times every day. Does this booming industry worry you? It shouldn’t, because only the guilty have anything to hide.

CCTV Helps With Lambing

With the UK lambing season just about to get started, sheep farmers are increasingly looking to install CCTV cameras in the sheep pen in order to keep an eye on their pregnant ewes.