What Net results!

A ground-breaking Internet-based CCTV system has given a Hull housing estate – once a crime-ridden area plagued with drug dealers and prostitutes – a new lease of life. And it has been achieved thanks to the combined efforts of a team of security and IT specialists, who came up with a wire-free CCTV system that operates by radio, laser and microwave transmissions.

The local residents group, the Goodwin Resource Centre Association, commissioned IT specialist C>Ways to design, supply and install a data network and monitoring system as part of a £1m project to combat crime on the Thornton Estate.

The brief was to use digital technology to create a system that would gather information from around the community and then be used to improve the safety and security of residents. Costs had to be kept to a minimum.

The development team at C>Ways came up with a wire-free IP network system using microwave transmission systems and attached Internet-based surveillance cameras to it (patent pending). Digital pictures are beamed back to a bank of computers at a control centre and video images can be instantaneously e-mailed to police stations via the Internet. Film clips are stored as digital files and can be located and played within seconds.

The benefit of this against traditional CCTV is its scalability, flexibility and relatively low revenue costs, says the company. It is also portable and can be installed quickly with minimum disruption.

Experienced installers
Installers of the cameras and matrix equipment were Hull-based Sentry Alarms.

Having been called in for advice on image quality and coverage of the area for a previous project, which was shelved, Denis Wheeldon, Sentry's Technical Services Manager, was once again asked to provide his expertise for the C>Ways system.

Along with the other team members, Denis, who has 25 years' experience in the security industry, came to an agreement over the present design and layout. Then the NACOSS-approved company installed the cameras and matrix equipment for interfacing to the IT networks.

"Quality of image during day and night conditions was paramount," said Denis. "You must start with a high quality image to have any chance of finishing with a reasonable image. Camera selection was vital." The cameras at the heart of the project are Microspheres from Video Controls Ltd (VCL), whose MD, Phil Burton, followed the project closely at every stage.

He said: "This scheme is recognised as the most advanced of its kind in the world and each item of equipment, including the cameras, had to be chosen to deliver the best quality and reliability." Partnerships were also forged with Mase Integration & Communications Ltd, a computer network integrator, and Farsight, provider of remote video surveillance and security technology consultancy.

Mase, which provides voice, video and data networks directly to end users, was involved at an early stage in the design project. This resulted in a network of switch/routers linked together using both microwave and laser technologies.

With installation carried out by Mase engineers, one of the main aims of the network was to ensure CCTV pictures have priority over less important traffic such as Internet access and general data networking. To do this, priority was given on the switch/routers.

A massive step forward in surveillance

John Marshall, Project Manager

An Alcatel Omnicore 5010 Network, using OSPF, was chosen for its speed of routing to ensure that the camera images would be real time and that blockages/bottlenecks on the network would not occur when the images were being transferred to the central server.

Eventually, the network will be used for carrying different levels of services to the community, such as long-distance learning and Internet access.

Farsight, which recently created a 10,000sq ft security station in Peterborough, the largest of its kind in the UK, developed the technology that enables high quality, real time digital images to be instantaneously delivered to the police via email with C>Ways to produce the first Internet-based CCTV system.

  It is the first time that the Internet has been used in this way, allowing the monitoring of practically any site by Internet cameras.

Results speak for themselves
Project Manager for the residents' initiative, John Marshall, says the system has been an outstanding success in reducing crime and dramatically improving the quality of life.

"This new CCTV system is a massive step forward in surveillance technology from more traditional videotape-based equipment and will provide the opportunity for communities across the UK – and the world – to fight back against crime," he said.

The system has so far been credited with removing more than 100 prostitutes who had plagued the area for years, and made it much tougher for drug dealers.

Total crime has been reduced by 45 per cent, and figures from an independent evaluation company show that since the system was introduced:

• Car crime has been reduced by 80 per cent
• Robbery is down 68 per cent
• Violence against the person has been cut by 30 per cent
• Criminal damage is down by 59 per cent

With the Government's recent emphasis on reducing crime, particularly in inner city areas, Tony Blair sent Cabinet Minister Lord Falconer to review the system soon after it went live. He praised the technology, which he believed would be an effective deterrent against crime throughout the world.

Monitoring its success
In addition to designing the 'front end' of the system, Sentry Alarms also provides the monitoring at its own station, a highly secure environment staffed by operators with years of experience. In addition, because of the Goodwin project, Sentry has been able to employ an additional four operators, all over 50 years old and long-term unemployed.

The Sentry operators work closely with the Humberside Police beat bobby and prostitute liaison officer.