UK Riot Comment: High Definition CCTV will make public disorder convictions easier - Matthew Epps

Aug. 10, 2011 - PRLog -- Though there has been some negative talk about how the police are handling the riots in London and across the UK, but improvements in CCTV and the progression of high definition imagery will be the key to the conviction rate in public disorder incidents.

It is without doubt that the police and security services in the UK are here to keep property and people safe at all times but the scenes witnessed in boroughs of London and other UK cities over the last few nights are distressing and difficult to manage with limited numbers of police in riot gear and other emergency services against the large numbers of hooded and masked faces running riot.

The Metropolitan police today are using online tools like Flickr to post the faces of people involved in the looting and disorder, the imagery is so clear that it is impossible for people to hide away. This is the future of CCTV and surveillance in public areas. Many systems are still using analogue systems that are unclear and grainy in effect. Though still effective, when monitoring crowds these systems would not give the absolute evidence that will be required to get a high conviction rate and stop future rioters from thinking twice.

High definition cameras are the only way to effectively convict and stop these people from offending again. The public are generally not aware of the clarity of products such as Avigilon that can capture a whole street scene and have the ability to break up one image in to specific areas which would enable the capture of multiple faces caught in the act. The use of Rapid Deployment kits should also be encouraged; these are camera kits in backpacks that can be set up anywhere to quickly act in blind spots or for extra camera support and could be crucial to support investigations.

So as the unrest continues and the media or public are looking to the police for instant reaction, arrests and prosecutions, we can only hope that camera technology will prove more valuable than ever to the service and to the public.

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Notes to Editors

Oprema Limited are multi brand distributors of high quality CCTV, Fire, Access Control and Data products to the trade, based in Cardiff South Wales  

Oprema are distributors of the high definition Avigilon camera systems in Wales and the only distributors of the new Olix range on the market

Matthew Epps, Managing Director of Oprema has worked in the industry for over 15 years and with technical sales director Tim Duggan offer technical support and advice with all products sold to installers

Oprema were established in February 2010 and will open a new specially built distribution centre on Penarth Road in Cardiff in September 2011

New website coming soon – for more information visit www.oprema.co.uk