CLOSED CIRCUIT TELEVISION

PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION

PHILLIP BOYD

SYSTEM DEFINITION AND IMPLEMENTATION OVERVIEW

• Business Requirement• Risk Assessment• Operational Concept• Requirements Analysis• Functional• Technical • Support• Budget: what resources are available?• Through Life Support: specialist skills, recurrent costs• Constraints: legal, technical, perception, commercial

SYSTEM DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

• CCTV is one part of the solution, and not a panacea for public safety and security

• Improve public perception of safety• Deter and displace anti-social behaviour & crime • Provide usable, high quality evidence• Integrated with the environment• Consider user/corporate/statutory requirements• Understand constraints, mitigate or design out• Ensure support is straightforward

TYPICAL CONFIGURATION

CAMERA SELECTION

• Select camera/housing based upon:– Areas requiring coverage, level of detail and

resolution– Distance from camera to target area, and streetscape– Environmental conditions (e.g. hot/humid; cold/icy)– Vandalism risk – appraise threat, choose solution – Whether operational use by police or council required– Planned system life, durability and upgradability

NETWORK SELECTION

• Select CCTV network based upon:– Need for centralised monitoring/recording or

stand-alone cameras– Existing network infrastructure (optical

fibre/copper/wireless)– Ownership of assets (lighting poles, power poles)– Distance between cameras and recording/

monitoring site– Potential system growth or reorientation

SYSTEM POWER

• Powering can be problematic– Civil/Electrical works and pole leasing costs– Trenching/traffic management/MoUs/RoW– Is mains readily available? Is solar an option?– Low power CCTV systems, standby modes,

movement activated in remote locations/depots

VIDEO STORAGE

• Video archiving is vital – Evidence preservation– Local to camera or centrally – Recording period and video quality – Protocols for access and release

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

• Trees, sculptures, temporary structures will affect coverage – landscaping is an important factor

• Light doesn’t bend – much – so the camera must be able to view the target

• High variance in illumination (light/shade) is not desirable (lighting uniformity defined in AS)

• Architectural aesthetics may not favour even discreet CCTV positioning

• Consider the effect of new or altered buildings

RUNNING THE SYSTEM

• Maintenance strategy to suit environment (inspection, cleaning, servicing if required)

• Range of fault detection options (tamper, lens obscuration, incorrect camera position)

• Consider bundled maintenance agreement with well defined performance criteria