Monitored CCTV used to secure staff carpark

Having recently bought a car park from Wolverhampton City Council, Carillion were keen to improve the security for staff and vehicles. As a public facility, the car park had previously had problems with vagrants seeking shelter and with vandalism to vehicles.

Another issue was the adjacent drugs ‘drop in centre’, a place for addicts to get off the streets and stay for the night. Users of the facility would wait outside during the day until it opened. Carillion didn’t want this to create problems, in terms of staff feeling intimidated.

“The idea was to eradicate any issues associated with staff safety,” said Paul Melsom, facilities manager of Carillion. “After looking at all the options, we decided that installing a high quality CCTV system, monitored 24/7, was the most effective solution.”

The right partnership

Having worked closely with Judith Clarke, operations manager of Spectre UK Ltd, for a number of years, he decided to bring them in to advise on the project.

“They’re a local company with a flexible and pro-active approach to our needs,” says Melsom. “If there’s a problem, they’ll always have a couple of good solutions available to us. This makes them a partner – not just an installer – and the relationship has benefited us both greatly.”

The aim of the system was two-fold: To be able to monitor the car park for any suspicious activity and to track staff from the building to their car. A key requirement was that the CCTV footage should be of a high enough quality to be used for identification and prosecution, should an incident occur.

Spectre UK Ltd opted to use Vista vandal resistant domes (VVRD4V9D/N) in the stairwells of the car park and in the main building. “We almost always use Vista domes for this sort of application,” said Steve Bonnell, MD of Spectre. “We’ve been using the brand for years and have always found the picture quality to be excellent.”

Dennard 2060 day/night high speed domes were used internally and externally for the car park itself, again because of their reliability and picture quality. Cameras needed to be vandal resistant not only to prevent them being knocked out by potential law breakers, but also because of the antics of rowdy students heading back to the University in the early hours.

“We’ve seen the cameras being dealt the odd passing blow, so resilience to this sort of action was essential,” says Melsom. Norbain SD supplied the equipment.

Additionally, the cabling across the ceiling had to be completely galvanised to ensure no-one could tamper with it, a real issue with them being so low.

“It wasn’t just a matter of protection, everything had to look very neat and smart,” says Bonnell. “Carillion is a prestige company, so all aspects of the job had to reflect this.”

Installation in a working car park presented a number of challenges to Spectre UK Ltd. They couldn’t close the facility as it needed to be in operation at all times. This meant that they had to work around the vehicles and find times that were less busy. This included starting in the early hours of the morning to get a couple of hours work in before the rush-hour.

“Our engineers Alan Bristow, Jon Currie, Brian Sambrooks and Paul Bendall were fantastic,” said Judith Clarke. “They worked long hours, often in very cold, inhospitable conditions to ensure everything was finished on time. They’re a credit to the company.”

Another issue the team faced was how to get the cables – linking the cameras to the security control facility – under the main road that separates the two areas. They needed to keep disruption to the busy public street to a minimum and so they knew timing and co-ordination were essential.

“We worked very closely with Carillion’s team. They dug up the road and we got the cables down, all within a single day,” she said.

Changing face of security

According to Melsom, the security climate is changing:

“A sophisticated security system is no longer ‘nice to have’, it’s essential. It’s all part of perception, especially in a city centre location. You simply can’t make do with a couple of low-res cameras and a black and white monitor any more.”

He has noticed that this change in perception doesn’t only apply to the electronic system, but also to security guards.

“I’ve seen a marked change in levels of professionalism since the introduction of the recent licensing,” he said. “They present themselves better and seem to take real pride in being part of a professional, benchmarked organisation.”

All footage from the system is fed back to Dedicated Micros Hard Disc Recorders in the new control facility in the main building which integrates with existing systems. From here, security personnel monitor the screens.

This works well for Carillion as, in the event of an incident, the guards can either deal with the situation themselves, or call West Midlands Police.

“We have a really good relationship with the local police,” says Melsom. “This is essential in helping reduce crime, not just for our employees, but for the whole area.”

Once a suspect’s image is captured by the cameras, it can be downloaded and printed off to a standard printer or the police can be presented with a DVD of the footage. Carillion have made the cameras available to them at any time to aid in their investigations. “The images are so clear that the police are using them for identification and have already used footage as evidence in a recent case,” he says.

A team effort

Interestingly, Carillion’s cameras can also be linked in to other CCTV systems in the area to form a Business Watch scheme. At present, the local ASDA has also signed up, and the police are hoping to get the University and Civic Centre involved in the next couple of months.

“Linking all these systems together would give us coverage of almost a third of the city,” says Melsom. “This would give us the ability to track offenders, giving the police a better idea of their movements and helping increase the chances of them being apprehended.”

Melsom estimates that the GB pound 70k cost of the system will easily pay for itself in the next three years in terms of reduced crime and streamlined resources. But it’s the safety of the staff and the improved perceptions that the system has brought about that really makes it a winner in the eyes of Carillion.