North East Lincolnshire Council is overhauling its CCTV. It’s selected Bosch Security Systems rugged MIC Series pan-tilt-zoom cameras.
The existing PTZ cameras have been operating for more than 16 years and are fast becoming obsolete. After consultations it was decided to roll out a replacement of each unit with MIC Series cameras from Bosch. To date, three MIC Series 400 cameras have been installed in Grimsby town centre and a further nine are due to be replaced with the new MIC Series 500s in the spring. The council is also installing a link from Grimsby Police Station into its new digital recording. This will allow images from each camera can be retrieved more quickly should the police require evidence; a process that used to take hours can now take seconds. The quality of the images captured by the MIC Series cameras has made identifying any offenders far quicker and easier and so more useful to the police.
The replacement scheme is being funded jointly by the council and Balfour Beatty Workplace Partnership, as a spokesman says: “We have 147 cameras operating in North East Lincolnshire, and we monitor a total of 161 cameras in the borough. Initially we are installing nine new Bosch’s MIC Series cameras which have been chosen over other options due to their reliable performance and tough, vandal resistant construction that ensures little or no maintenance is required. They are easy to install which reduces the time and cost involved in setting-up and commissioning the camera. Since installing the three cameras we have now, we have had no failures reported.”
Cameras have been installed in areas such as Grimsby Town Centre, Freeman Street and Cleethorpes. Waltham has seven cameras that are operated by the Parish Council; there is an option within the project to allow these cameras to be linked to North East Lincolnshire Council’s system. The Council is also planning to install three cameras in Immingham town centre.
From April last year, the cameras recorded a total of 440 incidents including 143 assaults, 150 thefts and 27 acts of vandalism, of which 184 were reviewed by police. It is hoped the improved image quality and easy access to footage will significantly increase this conviction rate.
