Paul Mullen is Head of Sales & Marketing at Tiny Green PC, specialist providers of rugged PCs for the security industry.
In British Transport Police’s (BTP) recent annual report for 2014, the force announced that its existing 55,000 CCTV cameras would see significant investment.
Following in the footsteps of Transport for London’s inspectors wearing body CCTV, BTP also explained how they would be trialling 250 body-worn cameras on their own staff. With a rise in criminals targeting smartphones and tablets, and increasing attacks on women in public places, there has been an increase in demand for surveillance systems in recent years. But what are the effects of public transport surveillance? How does CCTV protect passengers?
In the fight against vandalism, crime and terrorism, CCTV cameras play an important role in transport security across the country. For many passengers, simply the sight of a camera on a bus or train provides added reassurance of a safe and secure journey. CCTV cameras act as clear deterrent to criminals, discouraging any kind of illegal, dangerous or harmful activity. Even a sign that warns of CCTV in operation can be enough to reduce the fear of crime and deter any would-be offenders.
Surveillance systems are also used for passenger safety in the prevention of unauthorised access to restricted areas. For example, they can be linked to alarm management systems to detect intruders on rail tracks attempting to steal cables. But as criminals become savvier, increasingly it’s the technology in CCTV cameras that’s relied upon to offer further protection to passengers and staff, and to catch and prosecute criminals.
How a CCTV system can work
Depending on the location and provider, CCTV systems can vary from a single fixed camera that surveys a single field of vision, to 360 degree ones which are remotely controlled by an operator, but the general principal remains the same. The cameras should be small enough to be stored in confined places, and are often placed within some form of protective casing to prevent damage. They are then usually connected into the system by a POE (Power over Ethernet) cable, which ensures only one cable is needed for both power and data transference. With small cameras and tiny PCs, today’s technology means CCTV can usually be added to almost any area, from bus stops to train carriages. Our latest PCs for example, have been integrated directly into EyeLynx camera casing to negate the need for additional storage space.
It’s these ‘pocket PCs’ which allow officers to wear surveillance cameras on their persons too. Depending on whether the system operates on a DVR or NVR capacity, footage is either recorded directly to the device and stored on-site, or it is sent to a network video recorder where it can be analysed off-site. NVR systems allow for real time surveillance across the public transport network, and often work in conjunction with features such as British Transport Police’s Crime Reporting Text Number. Passengers can text the details of an incident taking place, and BTP can immediately view the situation.
High definition cameras allow for clear identification of events, whilst also supporting facial recognition technology that is increasingly used in crime prevention and identification. And it’s the stored footage on these small PCs which leads to suspect apprehension and criminal prosecution. Passenger safety on public transport relies on the continued investment in technology to enhance and expand CCTV systems. As we’ve found working with companies like TfL’s London Underground, tiny PCs offer an almost immeasurable amount of benefit to public transport surveillance.
Foremost, with public finance constraints CCTV technology needs to be affordable. It should be high quality, but at a cost effective price. Secondly, as space is often extremely limited in the new places where surveillance systems are installed, e.g. on Underground trains and in taxi cabs, the PCs that are required for operational capability need to be small and compact so they can be placed anywhere.
For this reason too, they need to be highly energy efficient, as they’re unlikely to be close to a good power source. And as cameras are increasingly placed in external locations like bus stops and train stations, PCs need to be secured in rugged cases and able to operate in intense environments, like extreme cold. Thankfully, that technology does exist now, and it is being utilised to the benefit of a passenger safety. As tiny PCs increasingly become the norm for CCTV surveillance systems, we hope we’ll continue to see the trend of crime decreasing on public transport.
