Low ceilings and easy access to cameras meant that an underground car park in a seaside town frequently had its CCTV system vandalised.
The 400-space underground car park in Rhyl, situated on the promenade – an area of landscaped gardens and fairground rides – had been experiencing problems associated with anti-social behaviour such as underage drinking and drug abuse.
Although a CCTV system had been installed a number of years ago, it was so prone to vandalism that the cost of continually repairing it had become prohibitive.
The town is a popular destination in Denbighshire, North Wales and the county council is keen to promote a welcoming and safe environment for the thousands of families that visit.
The council had installed an extensive CCTV network, monitored from a dedicated control room in a North Wales Police Station but the car park was not linked to the system.
Hard hitting issues
“Low ceilings, coupled with the concrete support columns that run across the roof, meant that the cameras were extremely easy to reach and they were frequently bludgeoned with bricks to take them out of operation,” said Simon Billington, CCTV operations manager for Denbighshire County Council.
“The cameras in question were static cameras that hung low from the ceiling, making it impossible to take measures to prevent them being attacked.
“We knew that we needed to put protective cages around them, but vehicles would have had difficulty passing under them, so it just wasn’t an option,” he says.
As the maintenance contractor for the county council, StreetCam were called in to assess the situation and come up with a viable solution.
To solve the problem, the council had Vista PowerDome Lite cameras installed and they have proved to be a great success, making the car park a much improved environment for visitors.
“The problem was the space available to mount and adequately protect the cameras,” says Tim Rowlands, managing director of StreetCam.
“Fortunately, the Vista PowerDome Lite provided us with the perfect solution.”
Whereas the full PowerDome range would have been too large, the smaller PowerDome Lite day night cameras with 22:1 optical zoom, was ideal for such a space-conscious application, without sacrificing any of the features associated with speed domes. Its size meant a cage could be used to prevent vandalism.
“Vista lent us one of the cameras to trial before we went ahead with the install,” said Rowlands. “This allowed us to see how it would fit into the space and to assess how clear the pictures would be. It’s service like this, coupled with excellent product quality, that ensures we look to Vista for such a significant number of installations.”
“You might think that the cage would get in the way of the view, but it’s very simple to simply zoom past it so you can’t see it at all.”
Last piece in the puzzle
StreetCam installed data cables, feeding information back from the domes to the node point in the car park.
Said Rowlands: “Although the cameras can use up-the-coax for their telemetry control, we had to install data cables as the node point uses fibre optics.”
The cameras are linked to the main system in the control room where footage from all the other car parks is already received.
Said Simon Billington: “This is the last piece in the puzzle and allows us to get a far better picture of the town and help keep it as safe as possible for residents and visitors alike.
“StreetCam have, as always, done a great job. They managed to find a solution to a very tricky situation and got the whole system up and running in a matter of days.”
A smashing solution
Since the system has been installed, the council has been able to direct police teams to the area much more quickly.
“The quality of the pictures is so good that we can see in great detail what people are getting up to, day or night, even with little ambient light,” said Billington. “In fact, the footage has been used by the police on a number of occasions to help aid their investigations.”
In one of these incidents a youth, who his parents’ car for a joy ride whilst they were shopping, lost control of the vehicle, smashing into three other cars in the car park.
“The police reviewed the footage and, because the quality of the footage was so high, were able to apprehend the suspect and charge him with the crime,” said Billington.
The system also gives them the information they need to assign the correct number of officers to best deal with the situation.
Although the cost of the installation has been kept relatively low. The benefits, however, are far higher, said Billington. “For many people who visit the town, the car park is the first thing they see, and it’s important to create the right first impression.
“We’re very proud of our town and want to see it portrayed in its best light. The new system has allowed us to effectively tackle the anti-social behaviour and we’re delighted with the results so far.”
Billington said the council had also specified Vista PowerDome Lite for use in a local school. Picture quality, continuous rotation and tours made the camera a strong contender for a range of future applications.
