Bolton Council has become the first local authority to trial Chubb CabWatch, a system combining CCTV and GPS technology to deter violent crime against taxi and private hire drivers.
Bolton Council’s Licensing Unit was concerned about a rise in reported – and unreported – attacks on the drivers of hackney carriages and private hire vehicles. The Licensing Manager in discussions with Greater Manchester Police gained assurances that police will respond to calls for assistance from taxi and private hire drivers as soon as possible. However, because of the ease with which attackers are able to escape, such assistance did not always deal with the problem, Chubb report.
The Chubb CabWatch system has a camera installed inside the taxi, recording images of its occupants. If the driver feels threatened or fears an attack he or she can press a button, which will send an alert to Chubb?s monitoring station pinpointing the location, direction and speed of the vehicle. An audio channel transmits the sound from within the vehicle. Once actioned to the police, the images are downloaded from the vehicle to the Chubb remote video response centre. An internal audible warning device for occupants of the vehicle is also available.
The exact position of the taxi can be tracked by Chubb using Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) technology, and the police can be notified. CCTV images are watermarked, date and time-stamped and encrypted, for potential use as court evidence. Chubb say their CabWatch can help to reduce insurance premiums.
The initial Bolton six-week trial involved 10 cars exceeded all expectations. The drivers report the deterrent was so effective that none of the cabs in the trial suffered any problems. An experienced female driver reported that during a late night journey taking three young men home, the talk was about not paying the fare. It reached the point where they were talking about stealing her takings. At the destination she pointed out to the passengers that they were on camera and had been recorded. They duly paid the fare and left.
Bolton Council is looking at a leasing system so that taxi drivers can buy the CabWatch system on weekly or monthly payments. The leasing system would allow the system to be bought over three years while having the flexibility to be transferred to new vehicles. Bolton Council?s Executive Member for Environment, Councillor Guy Harkin, said: ?With well publicised cases of attacks on taxi drivers, it’s a timely development.? See www.chubb.com.
