A live CCTV trial on pubic transport was carried out in Birmingham last month to try to improve public safety and help the police make the most of their resources. This trial, which was a world first, was overseen by BBC’s Crimewatch Roadshow.
The trial was commissioned by the Safer Travel Partnership and Centro, the public body responsible for public transport in the West Midlands.
CCTV cameras on public transport is not a new idea, and can be seen on buses and trains across the country, but the way they are viewed could be the answer to increasing public safety. For the trail, the CCTV cameras on a bus were streamed live to a control room and monitored in real time.
During the trial on a test bus, the control room was able to initiate a response after seeing a pickpocketing incident. Police were then able to intercept the bus and arrest the offender.
“Mobile CCTV is one of the ways we can look at reducing expenditure by doing more for less and while bus shelter cameras proved a great success, driver and passenger safety will always be prime considerations as part of our ‘public transport crime reduction toolkit’” – Mark Babington, Centro Crime Reduction Manager.
Could live monitoring of mobile CCTV be the future of public transport? Would you like to see this approach implemented in your area?