CCTV & changes for control rooms?

We recently spotted two pieces in the press about changes to the way security control rooms might operate.

The first was the new system for enabling members of the public to monitor CCTV images in shops on behalf of the owner and receive a reward for successfully spotting criminal activity.  Perhaps this does reflect the fact that many CCTV cameras are not watched by someone in a control room and only provide a means to record criminal activity in the hope that a prosecution can follow.  There do seem to be some dangers associated with this, as identified in the article, in particular the lack of training of those doing the watching.  But interesting never the less.

The second item was on the use of microphones in support of cameras to detect gunshots on the streets.  We don't know anything about the technology here but have looked at how you might present the information back in the control room and support the operator in getting visual images of the right area and then making good decisions. We await the outcome of the trial with interest.

Personal security in the community

In a piece in World Architecture News recently, we discussed the nature of the surveillance society in relation to the future of control rooms.  One issue we highlighted was how the presence of things like CCTV cameras actually intimidates people and produces this atmosphere of fear.  What is required is to breakdown some of these barriers and integrate the means of protection into the community.  We gave the example of the old police boxes as something that achieved this in the past

Well perhaps they are making a comeback...we spotted this article on a new police kiosk in Preston that provides information to the public and also allows direct communication access to the Police control room.  Although perhaps not a surprise that the kiosk itself is monitored by CCTV!