Veracity provides vital visibility for North Wales Police

A key investment in the installation of advanced digital video equipment is already generating rapid investment returns for North Wales Police Authority in just the first year of operation.

North Wales Police was looking for an advanced IP solution to provide it with more functionality and flexibility to replace the existing Maxpro system in its Joint Communications Centre in St Asaph and also in its Strategic Coordination Centre.

The new digital video surveillance system provided by Veracity UK Ltd integrates Instek MatriVideo recorders and Instek Command Centre monitoring and control workstations into the surveillance network. Bangor-based security systems integrator CCTV Services developed bespoke software for intelligent display of live and recorded video images across the control room operators’ desktop monitors, exploiting the powerful Instek SDK (software development kit) designed for third party integration.
The system now forms the heart of North Wales Police’s new digital video surveillance structure.

Moving to the new digital solution has enabled the force to dispense with expensive fibre optic leased lines on which they previously relied to transmit CCTV video from the local authority control rooms to the central control room at a cost of £30,000 per year.

The Instek video surveillance equipment provides North Wales Police’s control room operators with images from more than 400 fixed cameras based in the region’s town and city centres.

CCTV Services installed Axis encoders to convert analogue images from the local authority CCTV cameras coming in from all six local authority control rooms into the Instek NVRs (network video recorders).

It also built bespoke software, which it calls ‘single panel player’, that was integrated with the Instek recorders using Instek’s SDK.

Mike Harrison-Jones, director, CCTV Services, explained: “The concept follows exactly what police control room staff were asking for. They needed the facility to follow fast-moving live events by tracking activity from camera to camera as these offer vital clues as to the identity and motivation of the people involved.”

The system’s benefits have recently been extended to North Wales Police’s ‘Air Ops’ headquarters in Rhuddlan.When the Air Ops team is requested to send a helicopter to assist with an incident, the new system will allow them to directly access images from ground-based CCTV cameras in the area, increasing their operational effectiveness.

Mr Harrison-Jones explained: “In this way, Air Ops staff will be able to determine if it is safe to fly into a particular area. If local visibility is poor it becomes impossible for helicopter pilots to carry out surveillance. By having very specific local visibility information, Air Ops can avoid costs of up to £1,000 from needlessly putting the helicopter in the air which would otherwise have had to return to base having failed to complete the assigned task. Thus Air Ops’ ability to get very specific local visibility will save costs and greatly aid efficiency.”

North Wales Police will also be able to support police officers on the ground in cases of serious incidents by using the high-definition surveillance camera on its helicopter ‘NW01’. Radio equipment is being fitted to receive video images from the police helicopter camera down to one of a number of police aerial masts across the region and from there into the police authority’s central control room. Analysis of recordings alongside live views will provide vital evidence to help direct resources on the ground as incidents unfold.

The first full pilot of the aerial surveillance, or ‘heli-telly’ as it is affectionately known, was successfully tracking the progress of the Olympic flame as it was carried along the coastline of North Wales.

Chief Superintendant Simon Humphreys of North Wales Police Operational Support Services, added: “Delivering surveillance image views to the control room operators’ desks and simultaneously cutting othe