Tyco CCTV system helps London Borough of Islington improve safety and security 
(04/12/2006)
A new, enhanced command and control room replaces the old Kings Cross control room that opened in 1997 and had run out of capacity to handle the growing number of CCTV cameras operating 24 hours a day around the borough. These include 70 existing crime and disorder cameras and 22 dual-purpose enforcement cameras plus infra-structure for an additional 30 cameras covering Kings Cross, Finsbury Park, Archway, etc. and 11 brand new cameras at the Emirates Stadium. The system is designed for further expansion as additional cameras are added to the system.
The project included 17km of fibre-optic and data cabling, 64 monitoring screens including touch screens and video wall, and over 37 terabytes of networked digital recording capacity with fast retrieval and replay. Live images can also be shared with the local police, Metropolitan Police as well as with the operators of the Emirates stadium.
The new £650,000 control room features an impressive monitor wall with over 160 sq ft of display area including 48 21-inch CRT monitors for live video, three 80-inch 24-channel rear screen projection units, 8 TFT screens plus 5 touch screens. It provides access via a 256 x 256 video switching matrix to over 116 live CCTV cameras via a customised mapping facility for ease of use by operators and enforcement officers. There are also live links for TfL (Transport for London)’s CCTV cameras where required as well as Islington’s bus lane enforcement cameras. Islington Police have a designated monitoring area within the new facility.
The advanced digital recording and networking means that live images can be shared with other enforcement agencies quickly and easily and the facility includes the new Met police Airwave radio system allowing secure communication between operators and police.
Tyco Traffic & Transportation were responsible for the realisation and installation of the complete project as prime contractor and working closely with systems designer/consultants Cognetix to make best use of existing CCTV cameras and equipment and to integrate these with the advanced new cameras and digital recording/networking systems in the new control room with least disruption. “This was a large and complex installation involving over 5,000 cable connections, plus 17 km of fibre-optics and data as well as state-of-the-art CCTV and networking systems,” said Tyco’s Tom Menzies, Business Development Manager.
As a measure of the success of CCTV in Islington, evidence from last year showed that Islington cameras provided police evidence for court cases on 63 occasions and allowed police to attend more incidents more quickly leading to more arrests or cautions of offenders.
Commenting on the installation, Cllr James Kempton said, “Residents have told us that CCTV makes them feel safer as they go about their daily business, and evidence shows that it is a highly effective tool in detecting and deterring some common types of street crime. In addition to this new, modern control room, we are investing a further £1million in CCTV across the borough during the coming year. We remain committed to working with the police and our partners to keep Islington and its residents safe.”
“We were very pleased with the way Tyco and Cognetix worked together to integrate this system, which is one of the most advanced of its kind available,” said Gary Griffiths, head of Islington Parking services. “The new control room gives us the state-of-the-art CCTV facilities to enhance safety and security within our borough. It replaces an old control room, which had limited capacity and used cumbersome videotape recording technology, with the very latest digital recording and transmission facilities to provide a much more effective response to incidents and high quality evidence for any prosecutions,” he added.
Related topics: CCTV System Fire, Health & Safety Remote Monitoring and Surveillance Security market sectors
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