Rooms with a View | CCTVImage System management
In my articles I always concentrate on the management of the systems, as that is what the CCTV User Group is principally about, and in this case much of the control room technology involved at the Rhondda- Cynon-Taff County CCTV system was covered in issue 49 in an article by icomply. Phillip Shelton had been a CCTV operator, but suddenly, overnight, he found himself promoted to CCTV manager, having had no previous experience of management.
But now with four years of management under his belt, no one would guess it!
Like all good managers, he considers his staff to be the major resource and the biggest investment. He lightly comments he has three weeks off, and there are no problems but to lose an operator for three weeks would be a major problem!
With 25 staff, a mix of operators, guards and responders, working four twelve-hour shifts on the two days two nights rota, training is important. Operators are trained locally, managers and supervisors at Tavcom and those using the 40 WCCTV re-deployable receive spe- cialist training in their use. In addition, six staff are now licensed for the use of the cherry picker to put a fitting on lighting columns for the re-deployables which are mainly used to address anti-social behaviour or monitor specific events.
The use of these deployable cameras is interesting as laptops, IPads, and PDAs can view and operate them. In addition to the deployable cameras, the Community Safety Partnership also has a mobile van and six body-worn cameras which are loaned to the police, with the data downloaded when they return.
Located in the Civic Offices, the CCTV control room with 40 moni- tors on the video wall acts as the nerve centre of a variety of services. Two of the monitors provide the Central Area Police Control Room at Bridgend the ability to view the images but not any control of the cameras.
Phil describes the relationship with the police as excellent and attends their monthly tasking meetings, and evidence discs are pro- vided to the police once per week.
The main system covers Rhondda, Pontypridd, Aberdare, Porth and Mountain Ash using the icomply V-TAS Pro, and recorded on Tecton Darlex DVRs. Transmission is varied but mainly fibre optic, but the cost of this, as elsewhere, has meant the council are laying their own ducts under the roads through the town centres.
CDS again provide the maintenance for the system, and Phil endors- es their reputation which he summarises as “won’t just sell anything,
Phillip Shelton: from CCTV operator to manager but tells you as it is”.
Other services provided by Phil’s team include: • Monitoring a now private housing association under a service level agreement which introduces income • A key-holding service for a range of council buildings which again introduces income using the Traka cabinets, controlled by a fob, which can alarm at the time at which the key should be returned and can be interlinked with V-TAS • Lone workers protection using the Teltonika panic alarm with GPS location which can send an SMS to three smart-phone contacts, giving your position and allowing two-way communication. This also is com- patible with V-TAS. • Security guards provide a lock-up to car parks. • And there is another service level agreement with MRS communi- cations for the StoreNet radio system.
It was really good to see Phil again, a regular supporter of confer-
ences who kindly attributed a lot of his knowledge to his attendance. For someone without previous management experience, Phil has really found his niche, and achieved so much in four years that he is a model for other managers.
Smallest
Merthyr Tydfil is the smallest unitary authority in Wales with a population of 55,600 which is less than half that of some of the other unitary authorities cov- ered in this article. As such it has very limited fund- ing, and with all the other demands on the authority, it is a struggle to keep afloat.
Sian Davies has put in 31 years’ service on the Merthyr Tydfil CCTV system, the last 23 years of which she has managed the Lifeline 24/7 control room. She was asked to take on responsibility for the CCTV system after the council had submitted a suc- cessful bid in 1994 for the Home Office Challenge funding competitions for the town centre and car parks. The system was to be opened by the Home Secretary and an interview room was converted to a control room in six weeks.
Having now increased from the original seven cameras to 70, the system also covers a large hous- ing estate, a hospital car park, two comprehensive schools and a link to the town’s retail park.
The Rhondda-Cynon-Taff County CCTV control room
Spring 2013 20
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