Local Authority – CCTV Installation
Scope
Installation of a hybrid CCTV system (wireless & wired) for the stable yard and Gardens for the Prevention and detection of crime, The apprehension of offenders and Public and Employee Safety and Security, with Facial Recognition.
Tasks Required
Required a 24-hour protection of the park area against theft, vandalism, and fly tipping. Protecting such a large area required a tailored strategy that would ensure all areas are constantly monitored, with the combination of a physical presence and a CCTV surveillance system.
Once Lazerbeam was granted the contract, we undertook an extensive site survey, throughout the survey execution, new challenges came to light. Various cameras on site were located very far from the control room, and hard wiring these cameras would be extremely costly. Additionally, were the environment surroundings of various cameras, some were located within trees and/or plants which restricted their visibility. Weather conditions also had a negative impact on various camera’s visibility, not to mention the light levels at night and wire abrasion caused by rodents & weathering. Subsequently, causing camera coverage for Holland Park by the CCTV cameras to be less than 30%. We monitored and viewed different locations with different light levels, which had different proximity distances to the control room. We fitted a series of HikVision Fixed 4K Bullet and Mini Bullet 4MP Fixed cameras. These cameras offer excellent day/night capability, switching colour by day and black and white after dark, allowing crisp image capture in low-light conditions 24-hours a day. The IP66-rated, and vandal-resistant aluminium dome housings protect all these cameras from attempts to damage them and also from harsh weather, making them ideal for outdoor surveillance. All cameras were linked to a server either hard-wired using plastic conduits and armoured cables to avoid any abrasions, or via a wireless connection, resulting in an interconnected fibre wireless system. This provided total coverage of the park entrance/exit gates area, car parks, and internal sitting area. In various areas, cameras were required to be camouflaged for security reasons to capture license plates of vehicles that were fly-tipping, fake bird nests were constructed and cameras were fitted within. As mentioned, the cameras were supported with infrared lighting units, which offered 120-degree wide angle IR to cover the darker areas. The whole system was installed and made live within (mention days spent) in 2018. For reactive works, we provide a 24/7/365 repair service, supported by a 24-hour helpline staffed by our client support team for immediate fault resolution where possible. We currently have a response time of less than an hour with attendance within 4 hours (95%).
During 2018, there was crime, vandalism and fly-tipping in the area. Following the installation of the CCTV system, the police were able to collect images of vehicles fly-tipping in the area, by viewing video evidence captured by cameras we had installed to vital areas. The police managed to identify the driver of this vehicle as the suspect, who was convicted later that year, evidence collected by the same cameras has been used following other crimes in the area over the last three years. The CCTV system has assisted the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to better protect and prevent asset loss, as well as decrease the necessity of excess patrol in the area, their knowledge of the community has improved massively since the installation of the CCTV system. Further to this, all camera visibility during the day has improved up to 98%, and during the night up to 87%.