A case study of Lambeth Council’s central monitoring, controlling 479 CCTV cameras in the Clapham and Brixton parts of south London.
In the riots of 2011, the Lambeth CCTV system helped secure a higher conviction rate than the national average, and has become a reference site for many other UK council-run CCTV systems.
Kevin White, CCTV Development Manager, says: “Lambeth is a densely populated inner city borough with a population of over 300,000. The council’s priority is public safety and we work with the police and other agencies to prevent crime wherever possible, protect victims of crime and increase the personal safety of Lambeth residents, businesses and visitors. Trained operators spot suspicious activity and respond to incidents immediately. We provide high-quality video evidence of criminal activity and incidents for prosecution purposes and we support police investigations when required.” Kevin White has operational responsibility for the CCTV in Lambeth, which is managed, day to day by Andrew Steel-Dodd of the contractor OCS Ltd. Kevin has value-engineered the CCTV security process, from recruitment of operators to the selection of cameras – maximising system sustainability and reducing total cost of ownership. Kevin White has served on the London CCTV Managers Group as chairman, a body that includes all 32 council-run CCTV systems in the capital. He is also a member of the Public CCTV Managers Association (PCMA), whose members are responsible for a further 90 CCTV systems across the UK. He has developed numerous documents for best practice in central monitoring station operation and is consulted by ministers responsible for homeland security. He is working on Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA), balancing legal privacy law with effective surveillance. He represents Lambeth as a committee member of the British Standards Institute, working on the review of BS7958, the British Standard for operation and management of CCTV control rooms.
Pictured left to right are Andrew Steel-Dodd, CCTV Operations Manager, OCS; and Kevin White, CCTV Development Manager, Lambeth Council.
Sustainability
Kevin recognised that correct product selection is critical for sustainability and reducing cost of ownership. After field trials, where eight manufacturers’ pan, tilt and zoom cameras were tested, Redvision’s X-Series PTZ and dome cameras were the preferred PTZ. The Mean Time Before Failure (MTBF) figure for the X-Series was found to be between five and seven years. This was vitally important in managing and budgeting for a servicing and replacement schedule, which also minimised on-site failures.
Total cost of ownership and green credentials were important. The X-Series has no hidden operational costs and power consumption is minimal, the makers point out. Redvision’s use of infra-red and white-light LED illumination for night-time use was significant. Redvision is based in the UK, so any support issues are handled by the company’s technical staff.
Operator
Lambeth says that it recruits operators as ‘CCTV operators not TV watchers’. They have observational skills and are resilient due to the serious nature of some incidents. The operators are able to use the PTZ cameras intuitively to gather evidence more effectively. Their local knowledge is also critical in recognising street layouts, known troublemakers and crime hotspots. Paul Hucker, MD of Redvision added: “Our X-Series cameras demonstrated their worth in stringent field trials and have earned their place in Lambeth’s highly effective CCTV system. Redvision is proud to play a pivotal role in such a high profile CCTV installation and one which has become the blueprint for many local authority systems across the UK.”
Contact Redvision on 01420 448 448 or visit redvisioncctv.com.
