Managers at Southampton City Council received a surprising answer when they asked residents what should be improved in a group of run-down tower blocks.
In recent times, the Western Shore View area has suffered from damage to property, petty crime and youths causing a nuisance. The tenants themselves are not free from blame, either, with several breaches of tenancy agreements pinpointed by Council officials. In fact, the true extent of the problem is an unknown as many incidents have passed by unreported and/or undetected.
“We wondered whether residents would want the exteriors of the blocks to be brightened up a little, but that wasn’t their top priority,” states service development manager Paul Paskins in conversation with Security Management Today (SMT). “Instead, they gave us a really clear message that their most important priorities were safety and security.”
That message was put across forcefully at several Focus Group meetings, during surveys of the area and on numerous Open Days run by the Council. The consultation period also allowed residents to consider other improvements, including the replacement of every single kitchen in the Council-owned and managed blocks.
Technical consultancy Tietjen Clark Ltd was brought on board to produce a specification in light of discussions with Council managers. The tender was then advertised, and The Alarming Company eventually won the design and installation contract covering the five identical 13-storey blocks and one 24-storey tower. That’s a total of 664 flats commanding impressive views across Southampton Water but which, until now, have been less-than-impressive to live in.
As part of an overall GB pound 3.5 million investment programme, the consultant specified Dallmeier electronic digital CCTV systems (with recording to the DLS Series of recorders), a GDX Technologies (now part of Stanley Security Solutions) 5 Series Commissionaire door entry system, round-the-clock surveillance monitoring and better lighting.
There are 80 internal CCTV cameras, fixed to ensure uninterrupted coverage of doors and foyers. All 16 external cameras and PTZ models provide maximum flexibility. The door entry system also boasts cameras to show who is seeking entry. A further set of cameras will be installed to monitor the lifts, which are in the process of being fully refurbished.
Crossing the gulf
The Western Shore View area is, in many respects, somewhat cut off, standing as it does on the opposite side of Southampton Water to the city. That isolation presented considerable technical challenges when it came to improving security at the tower blocks.
CCTV images and voice communications alike had to be transmitted to the Council’s Control Centre (located in the heart of the city). “We looked at various ways in which we might send the signals back, including microwaves and radio,” suggests Southampton City Council’s technical projects manager Paul Howard. “We even thought of installing our own fibre, but there was no easy way of sending footage easily at a reasonable cost.”
It was better – and much cheaper – to collect the feeds rather than have separate fibres carrying signals from each camera or recorder. Dallmeier suggested installing a Local Area Network (or LAN) at the site, and then using a single BT fibre for transmission from one of the towers. Every block now has either one or two DLS recorders, each containing between 600 and 900 Gigabytes of hard disk space to record from the fixed cameras. All images from the external cameras are recorded on two DLS units at a single, central location.
Dallmeier has also supplied some of the cameras for the project. Its DF2000A ultra-wide dynamic fixed units were chosen for the foyer areas because they render extremely clear images even against the harsh sunlight shining through glass in doors and windows.
Special purpose cameras
Other cameras chosen for special purposes include the external Forward Vision PTZ units. These are located in vandal-resistant housings designed to withstand the extremes of coastal weather conditions as well as other threats (including external attack).
For its part, the door entry system provides voice and video communications between the entrances, flats and the Concierge Service. It’s PC-based, and can therefore be interrogated to produce reports on any aspect of activity.
Access control tokens afford residents automated entry, while visitors use the Intercom to access the buildings. Video cameras in the external GDX panels enable residents to see who their visitors are. This video is also integrated with the Dallmeier recorders which provide the recording locally as well as the remote display of these images.
Additional integration is currently being explored, and could well include automatically aligning the video recording to GDX’s data in order to identify which flat is being called and which token is in use.
Maintaining a watchful eye
The recorders were chosen to maintain sufficient capacity for up to 31 days, though incidents may also be archived if they are needed as evidence. “Say a car has been broken into, or there has been criminal damage at one of the tower blocks,” states Southampton City Council’s community services manager Lisa Dacruz. “We can then review the footage, collate what we have and then pass it on to the relevant agency.”
An incident that requires police attention might be spotted during routine monitoring. “Officers from the local police station come here to view the CCTV footage – either live images or recorded ones – and we have a radio link with the police,” comments Dacruz. “On one occasion, an individual was seen entering tower block with what appeared to be a gun.” Suspects have been successfully identified following assaults and cases of criminal damage. The perfect result, then.
Dacruz is adamant that the security set-up is not just about law enforcement and preventing anti-social behaviour. It’s also aimed squarely at providing a service for residents.
The decision to site the scheme’s Control Room within the Council’s Housing Department highlights the difference in emphasis compared with the Council’s main CCTV Control Centre. “That is focused on safety, security and crime,” says Paul Paskins. “We have a slightly different focus. It’s all bound up in making the residencies decent places in which to live.” The Department keeps an eye on the elderly, for example, and the more vulnerable residents. Camera footage and access token usage can always be reviewed if someone has not been seen for a few days.
Residents are also able to call the Concierge Service at any time of the day or night. “They can even dial-in from their mobile if they’re feeling a little vulnerable when walking home,” adds Paskins. “The Concierge Service can then control the CCTV cameras to watch them home safely. This service helps to instil an added feeling of security in the residents.”
The Control Centre runs three software tools as well as the Concierge Service system. The PView remote control software manages the recorders, while the PGuard system has been specified to handle all alarms. In addition, the SmartGUI interface offers intuitive control of the Dallmeier recorders connected to the network using maps and icons designed by The Alarming Company.
The feed from Weston also includes a single analogue signal which is used to display camera images in real time on a large, wall-mounted screen. This is proving useful for demonstrating the system to the many people who are interested in its operation. The screen is also deployed when several individuals need to view the more serious incidents as and when they take place.
“This project has proven to be a prime example of partnering and collaborative working at its very best,” explains Tietjen Clark Ltd’s technical director Vic Clark. “Bringing in the equipment manufacturers and the installer at an early stage meant that the project team was able to draw on the vast cumulative knowledge of all parties concerned.”
Warranty programme pays off
Included with all of the DLS recorders on the project was a life-cycle service program that provides a full three-year warranty with an advanced replacement of any faulty unit within 48 hours of a reported fault. There can be issues involved with digital recorders. Indeed, one of the machines on this project did develop a fault. Paul Howard was duly impressed with the swift response. “A unit arrived from Germany the very next day,” he tells SMT. “We just opened the box, plugged-in the new recorder and then we were back to normal.”
Following the success of the Western Shore View scheme, a project aimed at extending the security upgrade to 14 further tower blocks in Southampton is now out to tender. The next phase is set to make use of radio-based transmissions, as the towers are dispersed across the city.
