The CCTV and lighting tested in central London that makes recessed doorways less attractive to criminals and anti-social elements has applications in other cities, say the groups behind the project.
The CCTV and lighting tested in central London that makes recessed doorways less attractive to criminals and anti-social elements has applications in other cities, say the groups behind the project. Clearscape was trialled this summer at Stringfellows nightclub and Warner Village Cinema in Leicester Square. The venues replaced solid fire exit doorways with glass and aluminium doors. A fixed internal camera is linked to a video recorder and monitor, and is positioned so that it has a view of the recess, which is lit by artificial lighting. An external camera keeps the entrance to the recessed doorway under surveillance. Keith Wrate, Chief Executive of the Capital Link Project, a charity that aims to make Westminster a cleaner and safer place, told Professional Security that the charity is working with police and central London building users to identify hot-spots where Clearscape could be of use. Keith pointed out that some of the problems associated with recessed doorways such as fire exits are in the public realm and known to police yet not a direct building management problem – such as drug dealing, dumping of bags of rubbish, homeless people blocking a fire escape but leaving before the building managers arrive of a morning, and muggers hiding in the recess. Keith said that Clearscape can address all these issues. Anyone standing in the recess knows that they are being recorded on CCTV, because of warning stickers on the glass doors. The lighting allows passers-by to see if someone is standing in a doorway, thus boosting natural surveillance. Capital Link aims to revitalise the corridor between Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Covent Garden. Sergeant Sharon Williams of the Metropolitan Police, currently seconded to the Home Office Crime Reduction College at Easingwold, Yorkshire, as a trainer, invented Clearscape; ADT and Everest Glazing paid for and built the trial systems. She said: ?It will procide additional security for building operators, enhance the perception of safety to the public, internally and externally, and provide the opportunity to arrest offenders.? The Met recommended the concept to the Association of Chief Police Officers? (ACPO) Secured by Design scheme as a standard for recessed doorways. At the Fire Safety Department of London Fire Brigade, Senior Divisional Officer Dick Haigh pointed out that better lighting and clear escape routes may well cut evacuation times and reduce injuries during an emergency escape from a building.
