Mobile CCTV surveillance helps police move into the future.
CCTV in London
The Metropolitan Police Service is
the largest of the police services
that operate in greater London.
Founded by Sir Robert Peel in
1829, the original establishment of 1,000
officers policed a seven-mile radius from
Charing Cross and a population of less
than 2 million.
The Metropolitan Police Service now
employs 31,000 officers, 14,000 police
staff, 414 traffic wardens and 4,000 Police
Community Support Officers (PCSOs)
as well as being supported by over
2,500 volunteer police officers in the
Metropolitan Special Constabulary (MSC)
and its Employer Supported Policing (ESP)
programme. The Metropolitan Police
Service covers an area of 620 square miles
and a population of 7.2 million.
Police in London manage a variety of
different threats from protests, to crowd
control to fights in busy nightlife areas.
However, they often face difficulties
monitoring and collecting video evidence in
CCTV ‘black spots’ – areas of the city that are
not effectively monitored by CCTV.
A tool to ensure rapid deployment and issue response
Additionally, conditions in London’s
busy, winding streets further complicate
the monitoring process further. Yet police
in Westminster recognised the value of
effective CCTV surveillance, especially when
targeting repeat offenders. CCTV had been
instrumental in the successful prosecution
of criminals in a number of London cases.
The lack of decent CCTV images and, in
some cases, any images at all, was limiting
the ability to prosecute offenders in the city.
Keen to use the latest technology to
improve surveillance in central London, police
in Westminster decided that a mobile unit
would be most effective for rapid deployment
and issue response. Not only would it be a
powerful tool for responding to emergencies
and for gathering the evidence needed
for effective prosecution, it would act as a
visual deterrent for would-be criminals and a
reassuring police presence for the public.
Sony's megapixel camera infrastructure
Partnering with Sony, Westminster Police
sought to create a tailored mobile CCTV unit.
Sony’s industry expertise was critical when
reviewing the products on the market and
integration opportunities with key players
in the space. Sony also provided post sales
support for the adoption and effective use of
the van. Sony proposed a megapixel camera
infrastructure based on an IP network. By
using extremely high-quality, megapixel
cameras police in Westminster would be able
to obtain the images that they required for
effective prosecution, while an IP network
would make it simple for the police to store
and access the images.
A combination of cameras was selected
to monitor both the perimeter of the van
and areas further away. Significantly, the use
of Sony’s SNC-RX570P/Outdoor PTZ camera
allows CCTV operators to monitor activity.
...making it even easier to prosecute criminals
To meet the precise recording
requirements of police in Westminster,
specialist Sony technicians installed the
cameras and the supporting Realshot
Manager (RSM) software critical for the
content management.
It is ultimately the camera quality
that has enabled Westminster Police to
dramatically improve surveillance. The
six megapixel cameras provide a superior
resolution at 1280 X 960 pixels that make
it much easier to identify and successfully
prosecute criminals, while the IP format
enables the police to record data directly
to the servers in the van. By using Sony’s
RSM software, the police can record
evidential quality content that can be easily
downloaded to USB or DVD and passed
onto the relevant department for closer
examination and, ultimately, prosecution.
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