Serco's successful bid for the much-needed funding – framed under the auspices of a local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership with the Borough of Tower Hamlets, the British Transport and Metropolitan Police Services and Transport for London – follows the recently-announced two-year extension to its franchise. It also represents the largest single allocation in London, the Home Office having ploughed £78 million into 250 schemes throughout England and Wales.
The news has been welcomed by Denise Jones, deputy leader of Tower Hamlets Borough Council. Jones told SMT: "CCTV makes the public feel safer. If they do become embroiled in an incident, at least they know a trained security officer will be looking out for them. Importantly, many of the new cameras will be targeted specifically on the DLR stations."
John Hennigan, a superintendent with the British Transport Police, added that the CCTV funding should help in thwarting any possible terrorist activities. Particularly important given the fact that one of the DLR's major stations is at Canary Wharf – London's high tech financial and corporate heartland. Hennigan said: "Once all of the cameras are installed, would-be terrorists will be aware both at street level and on the stations themselves that they're under surveillance. The deterrent factor in the Capital is important, particularly in view of what's just happened in New York."
Serco managing director Jim Gates is said to be "committing even further resources to improve the DLR's CCTV coverage" in the months ahead.
The amount of passengers using the DLR network (which links London's East End to the City) is increasing by 20% a year, mainly due to a number of investment banks opening new offices in and around Canary Wharf.
Source
SMT
