The London borough of Bromley has solved some specific safety and security issues, including fly tipping and anti-social behaviour thanks to an old fashioned partnership. Vemotion, the Thirsk-based CCTV specialists, have delivered Bromley a flexible and reliable mobile system for areas outside of the reach of their hard-wired fibre network.
Fly tipping in rural southern areas of the borough were beginning to create serious environmental and financial concerns. It was costing the authority hundreds of thousands of pounds to keep shifting the rubbish and something needed to be done urgently to detect and prevent future tipping. Other technologies were tried and failed before Bromley turned to Vemotion to deliver their powerful, yet cost-effective deterrence and evidence gathering solution.
“Our main goal is evidence-based video,” said William Ogg, CCTV Technical Officer at London Borough of Bromley. “We want to be able to give it to a judge and for it to assist with convictions. I can use Vemotion for evidence in 95% plus of all scenarios, and because you are not tied to any hardware, any supplier agreements, or any network deals – you have total flexibility to deploy it where and how you want. In specific rapid deployment scenarios, we tried other solutions that didn’t work.”
“Bromley has unique local challenges, however, there are consistent themes running through their approach to open space CCTV that will resonate with other local authorities,” said Stewart McCone, Managing Director of Vemotion. “In a world where costs are under increased scrutiny, councils need solutions that can be deployed quickly and cost effectively, without jumping through lots of red tape.”
Vemotion’s low bandwidth transmission technology was sited in hotspots around the borough with dramatic effects. At one local store, Bromley worked with the manager to ‘piggyback’ on its network, providing additional coverage which has significantly reduced antisocial behaviour at this location.
“At 25 frames per second, we get the evidence-quality real time footage we need from Vemotion,” explained Ogg. “Their encoding technology doesn’t max the bandwidth, whereas other solutions drain the bandwidth and become inoperable.”
“We can deploy anywhere in the borough without consultation or red tape, in a few days. Conversely, a fixed camera system can take nine months plus to get in situ once civils have been organised. Quite frankly, if a serious attack has happened on a resident, we cannot wait nine months to offer reliable coverage and protection.
Clients are also seeing opportunities to use the technology in new and creative ways, with Bromley using Vemotion for flood detection and prevention in South Bromley, where the local police have asked the authority to monitor for local pipe bursts. The council is looking to use Vemotion as part of an integrated strategic CCTV management plan; drawing the attention of a leading international law enforcement agency, keen to understand ‘how is Bromley doing it’?
“Vemotion will work on any mobile network and can be dialled into from anywhere with any device, subject to the necessary authorisation,” concluded Stewart. “It’s easy to see why more and more councils and law enforcement agencies are considering Vemotion.”
Further information on Vemotion can be found on the website at http://www.vemotion.com/ or call 08444 906 906, or email info@vemotion.com
