Images from 21st Century’s CCTV solution have such high resolution that facial features and other identifying details are clearly visible. The Police force reports that 50% of images submitted to them, following requests for evidence, lead to suspects being recognised and identified by police or members of the public, making the task of securing a conviction much simpler.
Images from 21st Century’s CCTV solution have such high resolution that facial features and other identifying details are clearly visible. The Police force reports that 50% of images submitted to them, following requests for evidence, lead to suspects being recognised and identified by police or members of the public, making the task of securing a conviction much simpler.
Lynne Beale, Project Manager for Arriva UK Bus, said that the company’s success is down to a combination of Arriva’s relationship with the Metropolitan police and the technology Arriva uses: “We produce many evidence packs a year and our technology enables us to isolate the exact piece of footage that we require. This means that we can provide this service without too much pressure on other operational services within Arriva.”
She continued: “We are very proud of the working relationship that we have with the Metropolitan Police and as a result of our partnership our buses continue to be a safe and pleasant environment for passengers.”
The Roads and Transport Policing Command has reported that crime on the bus network fell by 5.7% last year, the 9th consecutive year that has seen a fall. The rate of crime for the bus network is now at just 7.2 crimes per million passenger journeys. This marks a reduction of over 60% since CCTV became compulsory on London’s buses.
Every single one of Arriva’s buses in the capital, and across the country, has 21st Century Technology camera systems installed, with up to 16 cameras per bus.
Richard Sorrell for Roads and Transport Policing Command commented: “These cameras have made a huge difference to us in tackling crime on the network and will continue to do so.”
Sorrell praised the standard of the images, saying: “The standard of bus CCTV is so good that the Police regard this as a major tool in their fight against crime on the buses. The total ID rate per circulation is around 50%. The CCTV from the bus companies certainly greatly assists with any investigation.”
The Transport Data Retrieval Team (TDRT), which was established in 2009, manages all Police requests for CCTV evidence and handled 13,478 in 2015.
One of the most recent successful cases involved an appeal to identify two suspected arsonists captured on 21st Century Technology’s CCTV cameras. The two youths were spotted apparently attempting to set fire to an Arriva bus in September last year. The images show the suspects, thought to be aged between 14 and 16, using lighters to set fire to four seats. Because of the high quality of the images police have already identified one of the suspects and are confident of identifying the second.