The uses of CCTV at Wilson?s School in Wallington, Surrey.
Wilson?s School in Wallington, Surrey, has more than 850 boys aged 11 to 18. It had a small, four-camera CCTV system installed to combat out-of-hours break-ins and vandalism. However, the voluntary aided maintained grammar school still had three or four break-ins each year, and police response was put in jeopardy. A new system installed by Security Services of London in April 2001 has resulted in zero break-ins since. The 10 cameras – eight Vista NCL735CK one-third inch colour cameras, and two Vista VPM8120 mono cameras cover inside and outside the school. A Vista VLM16CD split screen control display is in the premises manager?s office; recording is on VCR. Premises Manager Bill Bailey says: ?School lockers always suffer damage, and I used to budget about œ2,000 a year for locker door replacements. The new cameras have done away with locker damage. With vending machines, there is a trick of tipping or kicking the machine that then spills out free cans. That doesn?t happen now, and the machines have gone from loss to profit. These are the tangible benefits, but there are also gains from less litter, less boisterousness and jostling, and on the few occasions where there is a disciplinary problem, the video tapes have provided help in sorting it out.”
