The Metropolitan Police have praised the quality of CCTV used by a series of London business centres in the quest to hunt down and prosecute petty criminals.

 

Police in Kingston-upon-Thames were impressed by the full resolution recording and remote monitoring achieved by Unit Management Ltd, the managing agent for a dozen business centres along the A3 heading out of London.

 

Facilities manager Alex Brewer said: “Kingston police were really impressed with our high-res imagery that is sharp enough even at night for full facial recognition, that has led to arresting and prosecuting would-be thieves.

 

“We have even monitored an incursion of gypsies at our New Malden site while we were down in Devon.”

 

Unit Management has been working with security software expert EyeLynx Ltd for the past five years and is in the process of upgrading all its sites with EyeLynx’s iconic SharpView CCTV solutions.

 

EyeLynx co-founder Jay Patel said: “Unit Management has successfully implemented many of the features of SharpView, including video analytics, PIR alarms and the use of radar.”

 

Police recently made arrests from the camera footage when an intruder broke through the perimeter fence at Trident Court in Chessington, where EyeLynx’s EPR-500 radar is also in use.

 

“We’re able to track people on foot and identify people breaking in through the perimeter fence – and even watch people dodging between cars and buildings – all remotely,” said Mr Brewer.

 

The latest two installations are at Eurolink in Brixton and Kingspark Business Centre, New Malden, while Mr Brewer is about to commission enhancements to security at Battersea Business Centre, Lavender Hill.

 

The radar can help detect security threats early then use the software to control CCTV autonomously and zoom in to collect evidence and send to manned patrols or security control rooms.

 

It can serve as a high-performance very-low-cost early warning of potential threats on large sites, with minimal maintenance and no user intervention once it has been fitted.

 

Mr Brewer concluded: “The EyeLynx system records at full resolution, so images are razor sharp and not the grainy and dark images most people associate with CCTV recordings when you’re not live monitoring.

 

“So, with night-vision technology and the advent of widespread superfast broadband, we can monitor from anywhere and pull off recordings to suit.”