UK’s North East Lincolnshire Council is carrying out a major overhaul of its surveillance infrastructure, selecting Bosch Security Systems PTZ cameras to be at the center of its new surveillance network.
The councils existing PTZ cameras have been operating for more than 16 years and are becoming obsolete. Following consultations it was decided to roll out a programme to replace each of the units with Bosch cameras. To date, three cameras have been installed in Grimsby town center and a further nine existing cameras are due to be replaced in the Spring.
UK's North East Lincolnshire Council is carrying out a major overhaul of its surveillance infrastructure, selecting Bosch Security Systems PTZ cameras to be at the center of its new surveillance network.
The councils existing PTZ cameras have been operating for more than 16 years and are becoming obsolete. Following consultations it was decided to roll out a programme to replace each of the units with Bosch cameras. To date, three cameras have been installed in Grimsby town center and a further nine existing cameras are due to be replaced in the Spring.
As well as the new cameras, the council is also installing a direct link from Grimsby Police Station into its new digital recording system, this will allow the images from each camera to be retrieved more quickly should the police require evidence to support a conviction; a process that used to take hours can now be completed in seconds. The quality of the images captured by Bosch cameras has already made identifying offenders far quicker and easier and therefore more useful to the police.
The replacement scheme is being funded jointly by the council and the Balfour Beatty‘s Workplace Partnership, as a spokesman explained: “We have 147 cameras operating in North East Lincolnshire, and we monitor a total of 161 cameras throughout the borough. Initially we are installing nine Bosch's cameras which have been chosen over other options due to their reliable performance and tough, vandal-resistant construction that ensures little or no maintenance is required. They are easy to install which reduces the time and cost involved in setting-up and commissioning the camera. Since installing the three cameras we have now, we have had no failures reported.”
Cameras have been installed in areas such as Grimsby Town Centre, Freeman Street and Cleethorpes. Waltham has seven cameras that are operated by the Parish Council; there is an option within the project to allow these cameras to be linked to North East Lincolnshire Council's system. The Council is also planning to install three more cameras in Immingham town centre.
From April last year, the cameras recorded a total of 440 incidents including 143 assaults, 150 thefts and 27 acts of vandalism, of which 184 were reviewed by police. It is hoped the improved image quality and easy access to footage will significantly increase this conviction rate.